Dreams...Goals...Reality

It's December!!!!  This means that I arrive at the Miss Kansas USA 2011 pageant in 16 days.  It also means that it will be my final time competing for a Miss Universe Organization title because this is my last year of eligibility as a 26-year-old.  MUO owns the rights to Miss Teen USA/Miss USA/Miss Universe.

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Having had a couple days off from the holiday, I had the chance to do some cleaning.  I came across some old files and my Miss KS Teen USA bio when I was 16-years-old.  I remember being asked two of the most common pageant questions at that pageant...Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

My answer to the 5 year question seemed simple and methodical...I'd be 21-years-old and I would accomplish the following goals: 

• Graduate with two high school diplomas (USD 259 and the International Baccalaurete diplomas)
• Graduate from a four-year university with high honors
• Earn two undergraduate degrees in four years

My answer to the 10 year question was a little more lofty and bit more dreamy.  When you're 16, you feel you can accomplish anything and that dreams can come true.  I hoped that in 10 years, as a 26-year-old, I would be on TV and on way to becoming the next Oprah!!!

I'm a LONG ways away from becoming the next Oprah.  Instead, I'm proud to say that I've accomplished the goals I set for myself ten years ago.  I graduated high school with the two diplomas, went on to become summa cum laude and earned the two undergrad degrees in four years, was blessed to represent Kansas as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar while I obtained my master's in journalism, and now working in the field I LOVE!

When my family immigrated to America in 1993, I learned English through television!  Yes, TV (Wheel of Fortune is still my favorite game show).  I dreamed of someday being on TV like the news reporters on our local channels.  TV reporters, hosts, and personalities were my after school story tellers of the American culture and my out-of-classroom teachers of the English language.  I dreamed of becoming one of them so that I, too, could be an indirect teacher or story teller. 


In my teens I kept running toward my dreams.  In my early twenties, I paced myself toward my goals.  And now, as a career woman, I am walking gracefully into my dream job everyday.  (Ask me about the funny story from my first day at work---you'll get a kick out of it!)

My past ten years in pageantry have afforded me so many life lessons.  Among the most important is that I've learned about myself, my dreams, and my goals.  With a chapter closing in about two weeks, I must go back to the drawing board and ask myself the two relevant pageant questions again:  Where do I see myself in 5 years?  Where do I see myself in 10 years?

Happy Holidays to you all and may you all walk gracefully into your dreams!

-Lily