Why I chose my Platform for Miss Ohio

From the beginning when I first decided to compete for Miss Ohio I wanted my Platform to involve our pets and animals. But..... I didn't. I started out my first prelim platforming for Dyslexia. Yes.... I have Dyslexia but I have never used it as a crutch or a handicap to my advantage. Most people never really knew I suffered from this learning disability until I started building my Platform. I started a youth group in my school called DISS- Dyslexic Individuals Supporting Students. It started out slow and small but had some members who truly were interested in the group. We mostly got together and talked about our struggles and how we cope with them..... At my first prelim during Interview was when I really got a taste of feeling and being Dyslexic. When the judges found out I was, I almost felt like I was then treated as I was Handicap and couldn't handle the conversation. I knew then that I didn't want to talk about this subject as it brought back a lot of memories of being treated differently and like being laughed at because I couldn't read as well or as fast....... But all along something inside me kept going back to my original thought about my Platform being about animals...I had a greater calling and passion that was just screaming to be recognized....... so I made the decision! I was advised that this could be a difficult task to sell due to its nature about animals and not people. There are non-animals lovers out there who will judge me and not understand my passion and the path I have chosen to follow. Over the past months I have reworded and changed things to get the message to more of what I want it to be but this is why I chose my Platform.........

My first kitty...... Amidala...... disappeared December 7, 2007.

She somehow snuck out the open door and we never saw her again. We spent months searching for her daily and for hours at a time in the cold weather even trying to follow any possible lead. We advertised in the paper, radio and put up lost flyers at all pet stores and all veterinarian offices in a 50 mile radius from our home. We delivered flyers to the entire sections around our home 5 miles in each direction....... over 2000 flyers were distributed. She was never recovered. I was very sad over this but I know it affected my mom more as Amidala actually was more of my mom's baby as the years went on. As we adopted more pets..... Leia was supposed to be mom's cat but actually is mine. Mom has not given up or hoping that Amidala will find her way back home to us. Each year hundreds and thousands of animals are lost yearly and most are never recovered. She was the reason that I made the decision to change my Platform. This is my baby... Leia......... This is... Palmer
This is our rescue...... we saved him and his Mama and 3 siblings at Band Camp at Camp Palmer in Fayette, Ohio. Palmer Rebel and his 3 siblings were baby kittens when they were found by me and the girls in my cabin. Mom went to the nearest town and bought them food, litter and flea collars while we were at the camp. We kept the mama and the 3 siblings in another empty cabin next to us, but Palmer stayed in the cabin with me and the girls. See we found him first wandering around the path all by himself. We didn't find the others until days later. Mom brought all the kitty's home and before leaving the high school had found new homes for all of them including the mother. We kept Palmer...... even though we had several families that offered to take him too! Mom and I couldn't part with him, we were already too attached.... Palmer was named for where he was found and after our school......thus Palmer Rebel...... he became our band mascot too! Everyone knows who Palmer rebel is........

Thank God for Palmer....... because he came along right before Amidala disappeared and has been a lot of comfort to mom even though she still loves and misses Amidala. He is definitely her baby. He follows her everywhere she goes. He loves her, he probably thinks she's his mom..... well she is in a way. Then theres Annie and Odin.
This was taken a Christmas time..... that's Annie with the toy in her mouth..... and Odin is right next to her. Annie is 4 and will be 5 this summer and Odin will be 8 this year....... Odin is dad's dog most definitely and Annie is mine and mom's but truthfully she loves dad more. But we love them too! The both are purebreed (champion bloodlines) AKC registered Golden Retrievers. Odin due to hip dysplasia and medical problems is neutered but Annie is still available..... looking to maybe breed her this year one time then probably will have her fixed after that as well. Both of the cats are also fixed and all are micro-chipped. We micro-chipped them after Amidala disappeared to protect them and hopefully for a faster and safer return in case the collars were some how removed our lost.

If you have read this blog in its entirety then you know more about me, but for anyone new just reading this for the first time...... These guys are why I changed my platform to animals..... I want to be a Veterinarian. This has been a dream and goal of mine since I can remember. Its all I talk about... I want to someday own my own Clinic and do nothing but take care of animals. I can't express enough how important this is too me.... Imagine a little kid opening a Christmas present on Christmas morning getting that special gift that they asked Santa for and their eyes light up and they are so excited and happy that Santa brought that toy to them....... well that's me when I am around animals. Rather its my own, a friends pets, pets I see out on the street or the one's at the Humane Society when I volunteer. Its like a gift...... and I get excited about it.

I am studying right now at the University of Toledo in the PRE-Vet Program as a Biology Major. Once I achieve my undergraduate diploma then I am hoping that I will have been accepted in the Graduate School at the Ohio State School of Veterinary Medicine. This is my Dream..... my Goal....My Passion! What better reason do I need for a Platform! Even if I wasn't competing to be Miss Ohio this would still be my Dream.....my Goal....my Passion!