Day 3 Miss SD: How Cow Shows are like Pageants!

Day 3 at the Miss South Dakota Pageant was super busy with production items. During the breaks, we all get to talking and I was telling someone how preparing for a pageant is like preparing for a dairy show. For those of you who are not from the cow world, you will think I'm crazy, but those of you who have shown might see where I'm coming from.

Pre-Show/Pre-Pageant:
Before the show you work constantly with your heifers on walking, just as a pageant contestant does with her swim suit and evening gown walks. Your heifers must keep their head high and strut their stuff, just like a contestant in the pageant. Also when you practice setting up your heifer, you emphasis her strengths and fix her weaknesses, exactly like when contestants pick swimsuit posses. You also work on slimming down your heifers to make sure that she is in the right condition and we are in the gym everyday, also watching what we eat. Then before the show you shave your heifer to show off her strengths and femininity. The pageant girls shave their legs to make them look as sleek and feminine as possible.

Miss America 2015, Kira Kazantsev, showing off all the work she put in for her walk.

Show/Pageant Day:
You get up early, shower to make sure you are fresh and clean, ready to go. Then you spend quite a bit of time doing your hair and make-up, to help emphasis your strengths and hide your weaknesses. Showmen get up early (or don't go to bed at all), give the cows bathes, then style the hair on their spine, or "top line," to make her look as straight across her back as possible, as well as sharper (thinner) throughout. We even rat our cows tails like a good number of pageant girls will do to their hair.

My heifer, Rio, showing her style off with that straight top line and sleek black coat after winning.

In Ring/On Stage:
You get out their and let all of your hard work show, strutting and showing off all of the skills you have honed. And if something goes wrong, you smile and let the judge(s) see who you are and the work you've put in.

My sister, Laura, supporting me through everything.

Support:
Both of these amazing activities would not be the same without all of the support. In my show life, as well as my pageant life, my family has been the key to my success. I could not have made it this far without any of them. Tomorrow I will go more in-depth on this, but I cannot thank them enough so why not thank them in this blog post too?

Day Two at Miss South Dakota

This morning started out so wonderful, as we got to hang out with our little sisters. My little sister, Olivia, is quite the amazing young lady. We actually have a lot in common, we both love purple and have black labs. However, she has the talent to dance and I do not. I am a little jealous of that skill, hopefully I can summon some of that for the dances Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

After taking a picture for the Hot Springs news paper. We headed to the State's Vets Home. We heard so many amazing stories from those who served our country, including a wonderful woman, Wanda, who was a World War II veteran. I was so inspired by their stories, as they defied death and protected our freedoms and this great Country we love.

The wonderful Wanda.

The rest of the day was a lot of rehearsals. I have choreographically danced more since becoming a contestant in the Miss America system in the last four months than I have in my entire life. But it is so fun to see how much progress we all are making. I am so excited for everyone to see it and for those of you who are not able to attend, I will get a DVD so we can watch it later! Good night everyone. I will talk to you all Tuesday night.

Day 1 at Miss South Dakota

Good evening everyone. Well day 1 at the Miss South Dakota pageant week has come and gone. I cannot believe that the pageant is already here! So crazy how fast time flies when you're having fun!

A picture of all the girls that I got on the Miss SD Organization Facebook page.

Today was a lot of dancing, reteaching us all of the dances that we learned at pre pageant. As I am not a dancer, this has been a whole new experience, but I enjoy learning from those who are fortunate enough to be gifted with the ability to move. I think my favorite part of today was just getting to hang out with the other girls. It is so nice to talk with people who have been on the same page as me. We all have been working our butts off, between our jobs, preparing for the pageant, and many other things. It's nice to hang out with others who completely understand where I'm coming from.

I am so excited and honored to be here with these amazing women. No matter what happens Saturday, only one of us will walk away with a crown, but everyone will leave with so much gained. Please keep up with our adventures on the Miss South Dakota Organization Facebook page, as well as my own Miss Brookings Maggie Stiles page.

Why Should You Vote For Me?

I have taken the liberty to ask all of you fine people to vote for me for People's Choice for Miss South Dakota, at http://www.misssd.org/index.php/maggie-stiles-miss-brookings. However, I suppose I have just assumed that you all would like my Facebook posts enough or know me well enough and vote for me. So today I decided to give you some reasons why you should vote for me for only $1, just in case you were unsure. 

Here is a picture from my video!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10207042826660100&set=vb.1563284829&type=2&theater

If you click on the link above you can watch a less than two minute video on why you should vote for me! Enjoy! And feel free to share with friends!

And you do not want to vote for me, please just vote in general! All the money raised goes to give scholarships to young women all across South Dakota. Thank you!

Do You Have Any Pets?

I have the most amazing little puppy in the whole world. Diesel is almost nine months old and she is a Black Lab/Australian Shepherd mix. Ever since I left for college, I have wanted to get a dog, you know to have on late nights studying, early mornings studying, and to snuggle with at night. However, the right situation never came up and I did not want to spend a lot of money on one. Then one day, one of my friends came across an adorable little puppy at his work. The owner of this cute little guy was trying to get the word out that these people had three more puppies for free and were going to kill them by the end of the week if no one took them.

A very scared baby Diesel when we brought her home.

As soon as I heard this, I started to make plans to get a puppy. I then immediately called the original owners and set up a time and place to meet them. When they arrived, they handed me this adorable puppy who was shaking, she was so scared of people and had ringworm on her head. They had not taken very good care of her, but she has been in the best of hands ever since.

Diesel and I after a good run!

She is now a very spoiled, cuddlable, bundle of joy and energy. I could not imagine my life without my little girl. Coming home would not be the same without my happy greeter. I am so blessed to have an amazing buddy and companion.

What Does Your Family Think?

I get asked how my family feels about me doing pageants all the time. So I thought I'd let each person in my family get the chance to write how they feel about their Maggie competing for Miss South Dakota.

In front of my Butterhead with my amazing family.

Mom:
It has been a very exciting time! I have learned that there is so much more involved in the organization than I ever thought.  I am so proud of Maggie and her determination and dedication to this program!!  It's been a fun ride and I can't wait to see how it all turns out!!!!

Dad:
It has made me very proud to see Maggie become the incredible woman she is. I love to see her at her appearances interacting with everyone.

Katie:
I am very proud to be Maggie's older sister.  The appearances she has done show just what an amazing person she is.  Though I know it has been a long and hard journey for her, she has worked incredibly hard to get where she is and I know she will shine in the Miss South Dakota pageant.  I love her and hope the best for her.

Laura:
It makes me very proud to call Maggie my older sister, she is an amazing girl and a hard worker.  Having Maggie be crowned Miss Brookings really opened my eyes to the Miss America Organization and all the hard work they do. Seeing Maggie do appearances all across Brookings just shows what a hard worker and amazing lady she is. I am so glad I get to be on this journey with her.

I am so lucky to have such as amazing family and support system behind me! I know that no matter how it turns out, they will still be cheering like the crazy fans they are and I love.

Why pageants and the Miss America system?

When I was 18 years old, Betty Thompson, Miss Oklahoma 2011 and 1st Runner Up to Miss America 2012, came and spoke to a room full of Minnesota county Dairy Princesses at our May Event. We were all so taken back that this gorgeous beauty queen was a farm girl and promoting milk, just like us. She instantly became a celebriting to me and someone I aspired to be. Although after that, the Miss America Organization got pushed to the back of my mind because I was so focused on being a dairy princess and then a college student. However, Betty Thompson did tweet back at me with some bottled milk resource links for a speech I did in school, I was pretty pumped!

When Betty Thompson spoke at May Event.

Then one day I overheard some girls at school talking about the Miss SDSU pageant. I thought "huh, that sounds fun" and I thought of the great stories I had heard at May Event from the wonderful Miss America contestant. But then I went home, saw cookies and decided I did not want to diet. So again, it slipped my mind, until unfortunately my best friend's mom passed away and my boyfriend's aunt was injured at work. I was driving home from the funeral when it hit me, life is so short and I need to make the most of it for myself and those around me. So I contacted the director of the pageant, which was a week away, and she was thrilled to have another girl sign up.

I love getting to work with the older generations.

At South Dakota's Miss Amazing pageant!

Why is this pageant system for this farm girl who's a tomboy? Because I love helping people and promoting chocolate milk. The joy that it brings me when I get to see the people around me light up simply because a queen stopped to talk to them, is priceless. The countless hours I get to go to the gym and work my body is so good for my overall health and confidence. I am so lucky to be able to use my fully functioning body. And of course, the scholarship I will receive for being Miss Brookings will help me to fund part of my education at South Dakota State next year! I also hope to inspire young women to follow their passions like Betty Thompson inspired me. So after reading this, my question to you is why not?

Why Chocolate Milk?

The second question I get asked the most is why I chose my platform, "Chocolate Milk: Building Healthy Bodies and Kids One Glass at a Time?"

When I first signed up to compete for Miss Brookings, I asked a friend who had done pageants, how do people choose a platform? She said to pick something you are passionate about, as well as know a ton about because the judges will ask you a lot of questions on it. Once she said that, I knew immediately that I was going to do something within the dairy industry. Then I got to thinking and realized that I had to do chocolate milk.

My own running shoes with my great #buildit lases!

Chocolate milk. Why so specific? Because chocolate milk tends to get a bad reputation. Often, people consider it to be too high in sugar to do any good. So I decided that it was my job to help people understand that chocolate milk, on average, only has 24 grams of sugar, which puts it right in the middle of all of your fruit juices and sports drinks, while still containing milk's 9 essential nutrients. It also has less than half the amount of sugar than one can of Mountain Dew. And studies have shown when chocolate milk is taken out of schools, overall milk consumption drops 35%! I had to fix that problem! I also knew that I needed to get the word out about the amazing refueling power that chocolate milk has. It has a scientifically proven 3 grams of carbohydrates to 1 gram of protein needed for ideal protein degradation in the body. So if you want to use your protein as efficiently as possible, you need to drink chocolate milk. I, myself, have been refueling with chocolate milk after I workout every single day and I am so thrilled with the results of my hard work!

Who doesn't love a cow selfie?

I also picked chocolate milk because I wanted to help promote the dairy industry I love so much! Farmers and cows have taught and given me so much, it is the least I can do for the industry I am so proud to be a part of! So drink up that amazing chocolate milk! If you want more information about chocolate milk, visit builtwithchocolatemilk.com.

Why Miss South Dakota?

Being born and raised in Minnesota, I get this question a lot "Why Miss South Dakota?"

Have you ever visited a place and thought "this is where I want to spend the rest of my life?" In high school, most of my classmates would visit well known cities such as Paris and Rome, I even visited there myself. They would return saying that they could live there their whole life. I returned grateful for the knowledge that I had gained, but ready for an American burger and shake. Where I am going with this is when I was sixteen, my family traveled to South Dakota for a family vacation. It was gorgeous! I loved seeing the magnificent badlands and the historic Mount Rushmore. Not to mention the beautiful landscape of Sylvan Lake. But honestly my favorite part was all the cows on the drive through the state, and also the buffalo (I tried real hard to convince my parents to get buffalo after our trip.)

Notice my "I <3 Buffalo Shirt" :) from our trip to SD in 2010.

Where I was born and raised was my parents decision, and yes, I thank my parents for raising me in Minnesota, it was a great up bringing. However, where I go to college and spend the rest of my life is my choice. And there is no where I would rather obtain my education and eventually raise my cows and kids. It is a state that is devoted to supporting its number one industry, Agriculture. It also provides such a great environment for businesses to grow and develop. Of course, it is also home to my beloved South Dakota State University and that is a big vote in its favor. Lastly, the people of South Dakota are some of the most amazing people I have ever met. The feeling of neighborly love is so strong in this state, as I have seen so much in my three years living here.

They say "home is where the presets on your radio are." My home has been Brookings, SD for three years and I hope I will call South Dakota home for many, many more years.

(Sorry Mom, Dad and family, hope you like Highway 14.)

TBT: I Wanted to Get Out There and Sparkle

In honor of June Dairy Month, I took this throw back Thursday to 2012. At the age of 18, I got the opportunity to compete for Princess Kay of the Milky Way. In May of 2012, I was selected as a finalist, qualifying me to be a part of Princess Kay Coronation in August. I had to get a dress for this wonderful event and I wanted to shine. I wanted to walk out on stage (the moment I had been dreaming of since I was a little girl) and just sparkle in front of the hundreds of people. I did a lot of online shopping and found a gold, sequenced dress at Glitz at the Mall of America. So my mom and I drove down only to find out that they only had the white/silver version of it and only one left. But to my surprise, the one they had left was just my size and fit me perfectly. From the moment I tried it on, I knew it was THE DRESS!

Signing an autograph for my amazing cousin Michael who travelled all the way from California!

I will never forget the moment when I stepped out on stage and the more than fifty people in purple shirts, who were there to support me, jumped and screamed my name. When I got off stage, I almost cried because I was taken so aback by the wonderful flood of support from my family and friends. I am so lucky and grateful for all the amazing people in my life. I do not know where I'd be without them!

Success: Learning to Lose

The fourth point of the crown I am going to talk about is Success. And I believe in order to be a truly successful person, you need to learn how to lose and keep moving forward.

This past Saturday, I learned a very valuable lesson about not only success, but also what to do when you do not accomplish your definition of short term success. I helped out at the South Dakota Special Olympics Summer Games in Brookings. I was able to hand out awards all day long and it was such an amazing experience to see these kids triumph. But it was also so great to be able to see how they handled disappointment. The special olympics to these individuals is something that they look forward to and love to compete in, so when they don't achieve their goal (or their idea of success), it can be very disappointing. There were some amazing kids that looked on the bright side and were happy for their friends or for just the ribbon they got. Although not everyone can handle losing that gracefully. I know throughout my life I have struggled with this as I am naturally a competitive person, like many of these athletes. A handful of them were telling themselves things like "be happy with what you got," or "you're okay," both very useful when trying to smile for pictures after a disappointment. Then they would tell me about their next event and we would talk about how they still had more chances to bring home the gold. They would forget the past and look towards the future.

This experience is definitely going to be one that I will remember for the rest of my life and will help me the week I am out in Hot Springs. As a rookie, I am very nervous, to be completely honest. But I am going to stifle, just a little bit, the competitive Maggie and let the good times roll. After all, I am told that the week in Hot Springs is so fun and I will be able to hang out with fifteen amazing young women with such a variety of interests and experiences. I look forward to getting to know each of them better and learn about their passions. I am going to take the week one day at a time and soak up every second of the experience because at the end of the week, I will know Miss South Dakota, whether it is one of my amazing Miss SD Class of 2015 sisters or by some chance, myself. And how many people can say that they personally know one of the girls on the Miss America stage? Not many! I am also going to take the strategies from the amazing young men and women of the special olympics and look forward. No matter what happens June 20th, I still have a crown that I get to promote chocolate milk with and that is all that is UDDERLY important! (cow pun!;))

Happy June Dairy Month!

Today is the start of June Dairy Month! June is dedicated as a month to promote the dairy industry all across the United States and I am so happy to be a part of this! The past years I have posted something every day and this year will be no different. I will be posting on my Instagram and Twitter accounts a fun fact everyday of the month or just a fun dairy thing I see! You can follow me at @maggiejo20 on both of those accounts!

 Tonight I am staying in quite a nice hotel and they have a picture up of Holsteins on the wall. I thought, "wow only in Wisconsin would I find dairy cows in a nice hotel." So I snapped a picture of the picture and that was my June Dairy Month post for today on Instagram.

And today's tweet was all about my internship. This summer I am doing a study that involves manure and I have to clean the manure then squeeze out the water and weigh it. So as I was doing this, the farmer walked by and gave me the weirdest look. I couldn't help but laugh because I love doing research and being in the barn and he was just so disgusted.

I hope you keep up with all my posts and enjoy everyone else's June Dairy Month posts that you can find at #junedairymonth.