Flying High

I do not have adequate words for how awesome this is. Thank you, Brittany Hannema, for sharing it!

We don’t have to compete with anyone. Simply by being the best people we can be individually, we create an amazing world together.

So, think of the Miss Nebraska pageant like the state’s most beautiful garden of flowers.

The Miss Nebraska Class of 2014

(photo courtesy Miss Nebraska 2013 JaCee Pilkington)

As promised, this post kicks off a series of features showcasing each of the fantastic young women participating in the Miss Nebraska pageant in June.

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Miss High Plains, Megan Dimmitt

I first met Megan a few years ago when I was asked to judge the Miss Omaha pageant; Megan was a contestant. I was blown away by her wit, intelligence and down-to-earth personality. I’ve kept in touch with Megan ever since, and if there’s one thing that stands out to me, it’s her level of service. Megan has raised an unprecedented $10,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network, and spends hours each week volunteering in addition to work and time studying as a graduate student at UNO.

“I have always been very involved in volunteer work in my community,” Megan recently told me. “Once I became a titleholder, I realized that the volunteer work that I was doing before could be elevated to a much higher level.”

Megan’s ‘Tea With the Queen’ fundraiser for Children’s Miracle Network. Megan is a weekly staff volunteer at Children’s Hospital in Omaha.

TRUE GRIT, MAXIMIZER, PROBLEM SOLVER

“I make the most out of my time and energy and always give 110%,” said Megan. “I make no excuses and always work past any challenge that comes my way.”

One of those challenges for Dimmitt used to the be the Lifestyle and Fitness portion of the pageant.. aka the dreaded Swimsuit Competition. <cue scary music>>

“I have battled with my weight for a long time; I was about 60 pounds overweight as a young teen,” said Megan. “When I first started competing in pageants, I was solely focused on being as small as I could be. As time went on, I realized training in that way was not working for me, so I took a different approach. I started body building. This year, instead of losing weight, I’ve put on twenty pounds of lean muscle mass. I have worked so hard with my nutrition and strength training program and I cannot wait to show that to the judges and audience come June.”

Watch Megan’s workout!

A BELIEF IN HAPPY ENDINGS

Megan’s personal journey with self image and transformation was the inspiration for her mission of service with the Miss America system, a platform she calls Believe in Happy Endings – Goal Setting For The Future. She credits a basketball coach who helped her confront weight issues by keeping a fitness journal and setting goals.

“In time, I became healthy, my grades were back on track and I had regained the stability that I had lost,” said Megan. She now mentors kids in an at-risk after-school program, encouraging them to not only identify goals, but to create timelines and complete steps to achieve them. Her ultimate goal is to earn her doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology and open her own practice.

THERE SHE IS..

I am asking each of the Miss Nebraska contestants why you, my readers (and THANK YOU for reading!!) should care about what they are doing. Why you should follow Miss Nebraska? Why is Miss America still relevant in 2014??

“This teaches young women to set goals for themselves, learn the art of public speaking and the importance of selflessly serving others in need,” answered Megan. “We learn all of these important lessons, while earning scholarship money for ourselves. I graduated debt free from Chadron State College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice just because of the scholarship money I received from this amazing organization.”