At the 2006 Miss Tennessee pageant: She was a top 10 finalist and named Miss Congeniality for the second consecutive year. She competed last year as Miss Knoxville and is a former Marion County Junior Miss.

On being named Miss Congeniality: “(It) means a lot to me because I always try to be myself at every pageant. So really, I consider the award an honor because people voted for me for just being myself. And that’s always nice to hear. In addition, it’s always important to me to have the respect of the judges in a pageant, but it means a lot to have young women who spent time with me the whole week choose me. What an amazing honor!”

Her platform: Juvenile diabetes. “When I think about my platform, I picture my best friend Andrew, who at 12 years old found out his life would change as a result of his juvenile diabetes. From daily injections to a life expectancy 15 years shorter than the average person, when I learned more about the disease, I found it my personal responsibility to help people like Andrew and join the cause to find a cure.” Her platform involved “education for those who have the disease, awareness for those who do not, and funding for research.”

About the orange bracelet she wears: “In September of 2004, Andrew and I launched a fundraising campaign through Student Alumni Associates…We began selling orange wristbands reading ‘I Will Give My ALL for Tennessee Today,” a phrase hung in the UT football locker room…After receiving publicity from local television stations and newspapers and (having the bracelets) sported by UT football coach Phillip Fulmer and UT president John Peterson, (they) sold in more than 23 states and Great Britain.” More than 3,500 wristbands sold, resulting in a donation of $5,000 to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

On being a titleholder: “You become a role model because the Chattanooga pageants and the Miss Tennessee scholarship organization are very involved in community service. You’re told that it doesn’t matter if you go on to win Miss Tennessee or Miss America or not. They want a titleholder who can do the job. I told myself that I’d work as hard as I could and be happy with the result, whatever it was. I was very excited to make the top 10 and be able to promote my platform in the community.”

In the talent preliminary: She performed Rhapsody in Blue on the piano. Taking up the instrument at age nine, she currently serves as pianist for her church in South Pittsburg and is “picking up the guitar slowly but surely.”

College: She graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2005, earning a degree in communications with a minor in political science, in addition to the Torchbearer Award, the top honor given to a UT student. “To win the award, you have to fill out a rather lengthy application, listing all community service, academic, and UT activities you have participated in through your college career. The Torchbearer (which is also a very famous statue at UT) motto is ‘One who shadoweth oneself to give light unto others.’ Winning the award basically means you made a significant contribution to campus life and the community. I was very proud to receive the award because to me it represents a great end to wonderful and busy years at UT.”

Her work: Associate editor for Custom Publishing, a local firm that is the largest custom publishing company in the country. “We produce magazines for clients all across the country, many of them hospitals. One we do locally is Chicken Soup for the Soul for Memorial Hospital. I do something different every day, whether it’s writing and editing articles or interviewing doctors.” She worked briefly for a magazine in Charleston, S.C., and interned with the Associated Press in Belgium between her junior and senior years of college. “It was great. I covered NATO and the European Union.”

A professional role model: Helen Thomas. “I read her biography in high school, and I wanted to be Helen Thomas. I hoped that after my internship in Belgium was over they’d pick me to be a Washington correspondent and I’d be off to the White House the next week. But I went back to UT.”

On her bookshelf: Biographies, novels, mysteries, romance titles, and thrillers, including her favorite book, The Sun Also Rises, and a recently-purchased hardcover copy of Atlas Shrugged. “I love hardcover books, and this is the third time I’ve tried to read it. Generally, I like things that are fun to read, probably because I spend a lot of my day writing serious articles.”

In her CD player: “Exercise songs, a lot of 80s music. I love classic rock: Michael Jackson, Hall and Oates, Aerosmith.” She’s seen the latter group in concert five or six times and was looking forward to attending another show in Nashville in October.

In her leisure time: Playing the piano, exercising, and “making new friends and rediscovering the city after being away for a few years. Putting down roots has been fun.” She’s also at work on a novel based on her experiences as a hostess for UT’s baseball team. “I spend an hour or two a night working on it.”

On working as an athletics hostess: “I worked for the track and baseball teams. For track, we worked events such as the Sea Ray Relays and the Gatorade Classic. I served in many capacities, including announcer assistant and results board assistant. For baseball, we were responsible for being the bat girls, working in the hostess station with the season ticket holders, working the baseball banquet, and handing out promotions when necessary. As hostesses, we sat on the field and had the best seat in the house.”

How she describes herself: “Friendly. I love to meet people. I think I’m very enthusiastic. I’d also say I’m creative; I like music, sewing, painting, and drawing. I’m also a perfectionist.”

Her favorite city: “Charleston. I lived there for four months. There is so much to fall in love with: the beach, historical things, good food, and nice people. I just visited Chicago, and that might be my next move. It’s very clean and very European.”

If a restaurant offered a Rachel Parsons Special: “It would be something spicy, probably a buffalo chicken sandwich, French fries, and a Diet Coke. There is no spicy food in Brussels, and that’s all I wanted when I came back.”