THE WILL OF A CHAMPION

I learned a great lesson this weekend from my mentor, Nicole Bosso, 2007 Miss Delaware USA.  Nicole is a beauty queen in every sense of the word!  This year she set out to accomplish something no other woman in Delaware has done, win another Miss Delaware pageant crown, at the 2010 Miss Delaware America pageant at Dover Downs Hotel.  Out of all the contestants from around the State, Nicole got 3rd Runner Up.  The Miss America Pageant isn't just a beauty pageant, 35% of a contestant's score comes from a very challenging TALENT component.  Something Nicole never had to contend with in the Miss USA system of beauty pageants that were her domain!

Nicole worked long and hard to perfect a sizzling dance routine which surprised  everyone in attendance that doubted her.  But this weekend belonged to Kayla Martell, the new 2010 Miss Delaware America.  Kayla is a very special woman.  Beautiful, talented with an impressive history of national community service awards.  Kayla is a champion for people with alopecia, a dreadful hair loss syndrome.  She let everyone in the audience know she was wearing a wig and suffers with alopecia!  But that didn't stop her from competing for the title of Miss Delaware America over the last several years, UNTIL finally  she won the very coveted title.  What a thrill for Kayla and ALL OF US IN DELAWARE.  So here's what I learned from Nicole and Kayla.

By now you know I'm big on inspirational quotes and motivational sayings.  They help me contend with life's adversities and keep me on track in working towards my own goal of being a Miss Delaware USA someday in the future.  Vince Lombardi, the great football coach once said;

 “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.”

This weekend I got to see a great beauty queen's tremendous will to win which drove her over the last few months to perfect a dance routine catapulting her into a top 5 finish in a pageant that was not her specialty for sure.  I am constantly awed with Nicole Bosso!  And I got to see the great will and determination of Kayla Martell, the new Miss Delaware America as she overcame the odds of adversity and finally accomplished her dream! 

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.”

- Vince Lombardi

Congratulations to Kayla Martell and Nicole Bosso, two beauty queens whom I'm very happy have touched my life in a special way!

Until next time...

Kristyn Z