Her crowning achievement: can a small-town girl really make it big? That's exactly what happened to Shelley Hennig, 17. How one girl beat the odds--and honored the brother she lost ...I grew up with two older brothers in Destrehan, a small rural Louisiana town. Destrehan is a great place--people here are just so down to earth. But even so, I've always dreamt of moving to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of to dance. I've been dancing since I was in diapers, so I've always thought I'd like to be on Broadway someday some·day adv. At an indefinite time in the future. Usage Note: The adverbs someday and sometime express future time indefinitely: We'll succeed someday. Come sometime. . My family doesn't have much money, so my mom always doubted that I'd ever be able to leave Destrehan. It's not that she didn't have faith in me but, since she never saw anything big happen to anyone from our small town, she figured the odds were against it. But I've always believed I'd make it. LIFE TAKES A TURN When I was 13, I entered a pageant pageant, modern dramatic spectacle or procession celebrating a special occasion or an event in the history of a locality. In medieval times the word pageant had meant the wagon or the movable stage on which one scene of a mystery or miracle play was performed. at the local high school. I entered because my brother Brad went to school there and I thought it would be so cool if he saw me in the pageant. To my shock, I won the title of Miss St. Charles Teen Queen. It was the most amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. thing! My mom was so excited afterward af·ter·ward also af·ter·wards adv. At a later time; subsequently. Adv. 1. afterward - happening at a time subsequent to a reference time; "he apologized subsequently"; "he's going to the store but he'll be back here that she drove into a ditch on the way to the reception. Brad, who was never very affectionate, became very protective of me. When his friends said things like, "Your sister's pretty," he'd retort re·tort n. A closed laboratory vessel with an outlet tube, used for distillation, sublimation, or decomposition by heat. retort a globular, long-necked vessel used in distillation. , "Don't talk about my sister!" I loved it because he usually hid his feelings. But just as we were getting closer, about a year after the pageant, my brother, at 18, died in a drunk-driving accident. It was absolutely devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. . FOLLOWING MY DREAMS My dance teacher knew my dream was to move to New York, but she also knew it wasn't financially possible for my family to send me there. So when I was 16, she suggested I enter the Miss Teen Louisiana pageant. If I could win the title, it would help get me to New York. So I entered. I never thought I'd win and was totally blown away when I did. My friends were screaming, "We're going to see you on TV!" I said, "This is on TV?" They said, "No, you'll go on to the Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant run by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 15-19. The reigning titleholder is Hilary Cruz of Colorado. The pageant was first held in 1983 and has been broadcast live on a succession of channels, most recently on NBC from 2003-2007. pageant!" I was dumbfounded dumb·found also dum·found tr.v. dumb·found·ed, dumb·found·ing, dumb·founds To fill with astonishment and perplexity; confound. See Synonyms at surprise. and thought, "Oh. My. God. What did I get myself into?!" But my brother's death motivated me. I knew he would have wanted me to go after my dreams. I also knew it would help me through the negative feelings I had about his death. As Miss Teen USA, what better opportunity was there to speak around the country about the dangers of drinking and driving? I really wanted to do that in honor of Brad. The Miss Teen USA contestants were the nicest group of girls I've ever met. We had so much fun together. It was like one long sleepover! The night of the pageant, I was actually more excited than scared--I love to perform. But when they announced my name as Miss Teen USA, it hardly registered! I just looked out into the audience at my friends and family. My dad was standing in the crowd with this huge poster, cheering loudly. A crown was placed on my head and a bouquet of flowers put in my arms, but I really don't remember anything else. It totally felt like a dream. SCHOOL DAZE About a week and a half after winning, I returned to school and huge signs that read, "Congratulations, Shelley! Miss Teen USA!" were everywhere. I swear, every day that I had to walk by that stuff, I was completely red-faced! The next week, my town had a big homecoming Homecoming Odyssey concerning Odysseus’s difficulties in getting home after war. [Gk. Myth.: Odyssey] You Can’t Go Home Again revisiting his home town, a writer is disillusioned by what he sees. [Am. Lit. event for me and I gave a speech at the football game. There was a parade down Main Street, where I signed autographs and crowned the new Miss Louisiana Teen USA The Miss Louisiana Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Louisiana in the Miss Teen USA pageant. Louisiana are ranked fifth overall in terms of the number and value of placements across all twenty-three years of competition . It was great. Things haven't changed much--the tiara doesn't get me out of my chores--but I am busy with all of my Miss Teen USA activities. Sometimes, younger girls walk up to me at the mall and say, "Are you Shelley?" When I say, "Yes," they just stand there, staring at me. FLOATING ON A CLOUD My plan is to be an actress or model. So I'm moving to New York after my senior year. People in my community say my accomplishment has motivated them to make something out of their lives. I love hearing that--it makes it all worthwhile. Sometimes, I feel like pinching myself because I still can't believe I'm Miss Teen USA. But I'm mostly still just Shelley, standing in the kitchen doing dishes for my mom. And that's the way I always want it to be. |
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