Hello Everyone! :)

Hello, Friends!

I'm not too sure how blogging works exactly, so you will have to bear with me for this first post! For those reading this who I have not personally met, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lydia Fisher, and I was crowned Miss Muscatine's Outstanding Teen about 3 weeks ago. I am so excited to represent service, scholarship, style, and success (the pillars of the Miss America Organization) on behalf of the amazing Muscatine community! A little background information about me. I am 14 years old and I am from Wapello, Iowa, just 25 miles south of Muscatine. I actually have strong personal connections to Muscatine, as I have two aunts that live there, and my mom has been an employee of Bandag Inc. for over 30 years. It is so great that I can represent and serve a community that is so close to home for me!

I am in the 8th grade at Wapello Junior High. I have an older sister, Lorin, who is in her third year of pharmacy school at the University of Iowa. Even though we are 8 years apart and look NOTHING alike, we are so close and share many of the same interests. I have competed in pageants through the Miss America Organization since I have been 6 years old, and I held the titles of Li'l Miss Iowa 2010 and Junior Miss Iowa 2014. Now that I am in the Outstanding Teen division, it has been a big leap from the Miss Iowa Youth Program, but so far my pageant journey as a Teen has gone great! :) Outside of pageants I am also a competitive dancer. I take ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical classes, but tap is probably my favorite form of dance. I also play club volleyball and softball, and I am on my school's volleyball, basketball, track, and softball teams. I also enjoy being a leader in my junior high's student senate. I am definitely a busy person!!

Since I was crowned 3 weeks ago, I have been super busy with all of my extracurricular activities, and I'm already starting to prepare for the Miss Iowa's Outstanding Teen Competition, which will be the last Saturday in June. I am particularly working on further developing my platform, "Educating the Voters of Tomorrow". I became really involved in following the presidential election of 2016 from the angles of both political parties. I asked my family lots of questions about how the election process worked, and I really learned a lot. I tried to have discussions with some of my classmates about current events surrounding the election, but I quickly learned that many peers lacked basic knowledge/understanding of politics and the mechanics of American government. Unfortunately, at my school, government isn't taught until the senior year, and I feel that waiting to learn about it then will not allow us to have a strong background and enthusiasm for politics when we become old enough to vote. I also feel that I do not know too much about how government works at the state level, so I really wanted to have the opportunity to learn more about it.

There are two alumni from Wapello that were elected into the Iowa legislature for this session, Representatives David Kerr and Gary Carlson. Gary Carlson is actually the Iowa House Representative for the Muscatine community. I personally reached out to them, congratulating them on their wins, and invited them to come visit my school to educate students about their roles as state legislators. We are currently working out times for them to come visit, so I think this will be a great learning opportunity!

I am also working on a research project with my social studies teacher to learn the baseline knowledge of Wapello students in regards to American government and politics. I created a survey and gave it to my peers. I am currently in the process of organizing my results. I hope to present this information to my school board and advocate to introduce government and politics education earlier in our school's curriculum. I also would like to reach out to other schools in my area and possibly present my data to the Area Education Agency. It has been a lot of work so far, but I think I my results may be able to make a big difference!

I'm also in the works for preparing for the other phases of competition as well. Soon I will be starting a new dance solo for competition. Hopefully I will have a successful competition season.

Wow, it's past my bedtime! If you have any questions for me, don't hesitate to shoot me a message on Facebook. Until next time everyone!

~Lydia Fisher, Miss Muscatine's Outstanding Teen, 2017

So Long Farwell...

Well, where do I begin? What a year it has been for me being your Miss Muscatine’s Outstanding Teen 2016!
I was able to accomplish so much in just one year of being crowned Miss Muscatine’s Outstanding Teen. I met several Presidential candidates, I spoke and volunteered at many Alzheimer’s Association events, I performed my passion--baton twirling, I competed at Miss Iowa's Outstanding Teen, I met many new people, and I made memories and friendships to last me a lifetime. But this memorable year would not have been possible without the help of some really amazing people.
First off, I’d like to thank my awesome directors, Ashley Brown and Kindra Plett. To Ashley, thank you for keeping me on track and for always giving me the best inspirational talks! To Kindra, thank you for your amazing hair, makeup and fashion advice! I would still be clueless on how to curl my hair if it weren’t for you! Thank you to Michelle and Jessica for prepping me in every aspect for Miss Iowa week. From paperwork to interview prep, you both always went the extra mile to make sure I was ready. To Ray Porter, even though you are over a thousand miles away in Georgia, you still made it a goal for you to help me overcome my performance anxiety. I can now perform in front of large crowds and not have a panic attack, thank you so much! My amazing sister queens: Kaylee, Jessica, and Julia, this year would not have been the same without you three. I am so blessed to have grown closer to each of you and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of you! Thank you to all the Muscatine Scholarship sponsors, without your generous support, I would not be standing here today! Thank you especially to Le Chic Prom and Pageant Boutique for providing me with my dream dress, Michale Crumly with Mississippi Pearl Photography for my beautiful headshots, Salon Halo for making my hair look fantabulous, and many more!
But most importantly, I want to thank my family and friends for supporting me in everything I do. Mom, thank you for constantly schlepping me all over God’s green acres for appearances and volunteering events. You sacrifice so much to make sure I can chase every dream I can. Thank you for always making sure I look perfect, for making me take lots of pictures, and for always loving me (even though I can be a piece of work sometimes). To Papi, Grandma and Gabi, thank you all for being my biggest cheerleaders. I know I can always count on you guys to make me feel the most confident on and off the stage. I love you all.
    To the next girl who will be crowned Miss Muscatine’s Outstanding Teen, you will have a blast this year! As cheesy as it may sound, your year will go by quickly, so enjoy and soak up every moment you encounter and take advantage of every opportunity presented to you!
Even though my time of being Miss Muscatine’s Outstanding Teen has come to an end, I am so excited for the next adventure I will take on. As they say, dreams don’t work unless you do. I plan to continue working with my platform, Remember Me: Attacking Alzheimer’s Disease. I also hope to embark on another journey and dream within the Miss America Organization. Not only has this excellent organization taught me skills to utilize in everyday life, but it has helped me discover who I am and how I plan to grow as a woman. But for now...

Signing off for the last time,
Your Miss Muscatine Outstanding 2016,
Sophia Aguirre