By LaTia Bostick '14
Twenty-four-year-old Catawba College senior, Ashley Jackson, didn't win when she competed in the Miss Washington USA 2014 pageant in mid-October, but she says she learned that "You can accomplish anything you want as long as you have faith and believe."
For the 24-year-old senior, the competition was a good news, bad news story.
"The bad news," she said, "is I didn't place in the competition. The good news is that I won the Miss Spirit Award."
That award was handed to Jackson for exhibiting positivity and being helpful to her fellow competitors during the pageant journey.
"I was told that the decision to give me the Miss Spirit Award was unanimous," Jackson shared. "I was surprised I won something."
Jackson, a Theatre Arts major who will complete her coursework at Catawba in December 2013, had held the title of Miss University Place USA 2013. That title qualified her to compete in the Miss Washington USA 2014 pageant.
Even though she didn't place or win, she's "thinking about competing again because she had so much fun."
"The most important thing I learned about myself is that I never, ever give up on my dreams. I completely changed my life for the better because of the competition. I started eating better, taking care of my body by exercising, and most importantly, I have gained confidence in myself and my abilities."
At Catawba, Jackson has been active in many Blue Masque Theatre productions. She appeared as Storyteller Mama Euralie in "Once on this Island," and worked as a member of the stage crew in productions ranging from "The Merry Wives of Windsor" to "The Life of Galileo." She directed Catawba's late October production of "For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide/when the Rainbow is Enuf."
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