Previously: A native of Memphis, she was Miss Southeast Tennessee 2006 and Miss Middle Tennessee State University 2005.

Her platform: Diabetes awareness. “It hits so close to home. I’ve watched family members and friends suffer from diabetes. It’s a chronic disease that doesn’t discriminate with age, but it’s preventable. It doesn’t have to happen. That’s why it’s important to instill in children that it’s better for them to be playing soccer and basketball than video games and help them make better choices about what to eat and not to eat.”

A titleholder’s responsibility: “The community is what it’s all about. It’s part of your duty as a titleholder to be of service to the community. Being a titleholder is not about wearing a crown. It has nothing to do with evening gowns, and it’s not glamorous. It’s about having an effect on people.”

How pageants benefit participants: “You develop skills that enable you to speak well and be professional. Pageantry gives a young girl poise and confidence that put you a step ahead of most people our age.”

Advice for aspiring pageant participants: “Listen to those who have done it for a while. Their advice can save you a lot of trouble. Be true to yourself, but never go along with something that doesn’t feel right for you. Don’t get caught up in the glamour of it all. It may look glamorous on stage, but the job starts the morning after you get the crown.”

College: She’ll graduate from MTSU in December with a degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in history. Interning at a local television station “confirms ever more that this is what I want to do. My ultimate goal would be to anchor and report for CNN.”

Why she was drawn to journalism: “As a child, I always wanted to be a writer. I thought I’d be the next Stephen King or Danielle Steele. Journalism gives you the opportunity to be creative, but you’re also looking behind the scene for information people need to know about. I think it’s an appealing and important role to be the person who tells everybody what’s going on.”

Her favorite period of history: The 1950s. “That was the era my father grew up in. I was always listening to his music when I was growing up, and I guess his nostalgic view of that period rubbed off on me. As I got older, I became more and more interested in it.”

The person she’d most like to interview: Buddy Holly. “He died at such a young age, and nobody knows what really happened on that plane the day the music died. I think that would be a big story that would make the news at night.”

The best advice she ever received: It came from her mother. “Follow your heart and do what you need to do. You can’t please everyone. You have to be you. Know who you are, and stick with that.”

How she describes herself: Optimistic (“Positive thoughts are easier to live with than negative ones.”), encouraging (“I hate to see someone down and not feeling good about themselves.”), and motivated (“When I set my eyes on a goal, I work hard to reach it. It if doesn’t come to pass, I like to know that I’ve done everything in my power, that I did my best.”).

Danielle Colburn Style: “I’m not much for dressing down. I love any excuse to dress up. To me, that’s one of the fun aspects of pageants. You don’t get to wear an evening gown or a big ball gown every day.”

Leisure time: “I wish I had more of it. I always have my face in a book, and I like scrap booking because it’s something I can do to express creativity. Singing karaoke is fun, too. I have a machine, and my roommates and I have a field day with it.”

Her favorite item on a restaurant menu: “Chicken fettuccini Alfredo. That’s what I get everywhere I go.”

Her favorite indulgence: Chocolate-covered strawberries. “I don’t have it often, but I’m in heaven when I do.”