April Showers Bring May Flowers!

Today, I finally have some time to sit down and write about my crazy past couple of weeks! I have made huge strides with my platform and am excited to share what I have been up to. Since I last wrote, I have definitely gotten used to the dark hair and the new length! Huge thank you to A New U Salon. It's perfect! After headshots, I had to sit down and go through like 150 photos and narrow it down to find my state headshot. The state headshot is what the audience will see in the Miss Iowa Program book and what the judges will see before my interview. I was able to get it down to my top five, and then my directors helped me pick the final one! I am thrilled with how the photos turned out. Thank you Mississippi Pearl Photography!

On another note, the Miss Iowa Class of 2015 is complete! How exciting is that. I attended the sweeps pageant in Cedar Rapids and helped by crowning our last couple of titleholders. It was such a wonderful day. I am really looking forward to being with the entire class of 2015 for orientation this upcoming weekend. It will be so great to finally be all together and just get to know each other further.

With orientation coming up, I have made sure that all my paperwork and photos are completely up to date. That being said my platform is finally finished. My platform is STEM Education: Unleashing our Future Scientists. Thanks to Legacy Consulting, my platform is exactly what I wanted it to be. I cannot tell you how pleased I am with the final product. My platform is based off of three very important things: my thesis which was written on the driving force behind STEM, my internship in Cape Town, South Africa, and my passion for teaching students about science. Since my platform has been finalized, I also was able to collaborate with the SE STEM Regional Hub Manager, as well as the executive director for Million Women Mentors-Iowa. I cannot wait to continue working with them as well as continue looking into STEM based clubs around Iowa!

If all of this was not exciting enough, this past week I received a huge piece of news! I was given confirmation that my committee reviewed my comprehensive exams (chemistry and science education) and they found it satisfactory meaning I PASSED! Masters of Arts in Teaching....here I come! It is kind of crazy to believe that in less than one month, I will be walking across the stage to receive my M.A.T. degree! 

As the rain comes down, the flowers are starting to come out and the weather is getting warmer. How can you not be in a good mood?!

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Kristen One

Miss Muscatine 2014