Going Out With a Bang!

Finally, we're on our way home, and after a day full of travel, it feels great to be headed back to town. It's the time you spend away from home that really makes you appreciate it. (Although, I will miss the cloud-like comfort of the beds at Disneyland in California.)  

The last couple of days have been more busy than I could have imagined. On paper, the schedule seemed fairly simple, but that supposed simplicity ended up being a far cry from the truth. Monday proved to be the busiest day of all. I had interviews with the judges scheduled for 9 a.m. We had three-minute sessions with each of the five judges. Though most girls were terribly nervous, I had no apprehensions about the interviews what so ever. I've found from experience with interviews that the best thing you can do is just be yourself, and that's not so hard! I'm sure that the other homecoming queen's fears were eased when they met the judges. They all proved to be quite welcoming, wearing warm smiles upon our entrance. 

Interviews concluded and each girl took a short American History test and wrote an essay. State speeches followed that. The speeches could only be a minute or so in length, and were supposed to convince the judges to visit their state. There was certainly no limit to these girls' creativity, from Pennsylvania dressed up as a firework, to Georgia as a Southern Belle, and everything in between. I presented my speech as if I were a tour guide showing the audience through the "majestic land of Michigan."

Our community service videos were presented after that. I was surprised by the number of girls who videos were not about their community service, but solely about themselves, and also, the number of girls thats videos very much exceeded the two minute time limit. Despite sending in my video early so that it could be "correctly formatted" to the DVD, my widescreen video was chopped off at each end, preventing the text from being read. I was slightly disappointed, feeling at a disadvantage for this was the only video viewing for the judges. Although my luck wasn't the worst … Mississippi's video was somehow deleted and Oklahoma's DVD wouldn't play. Unfortunately, nothing was done to solve these problems. That night was the Queens Banquet, where we feasted like we hadn't eaten in months.  

'The day'

Tuesday was "the day." The day of last chances and final impressions. We woke up early (like every day before) and headed over to the Disneyland Hotel Grand Ballroom, where all of that evenings festivities were to take place. After a grueling four-hour rehearsal, we were dismissed back to our rooms to get ready. At 3 p.m., the first round of the evening gown competition began. Each and every girl looked beautiful, with gorgeous dresses and not a hair out of place.

Walking to the grand ballroom, one of the homecoming queens was asked by a mother if she could sign an autograph for her daughter. Seeing this, Miss Minnesota spread the word and I, along with at least a dozen other states headed over to the girl and gave her our autographs as well. It was such a good feeling seeing her excitement. 

Having completed the evening gown portion, we had a bit of time to kill. A few of us decided to have some fun and stood out on our balcony belting the songs we were to perform that evening, that we learned at morning rehearsals. Once we knew our songs well enough, we continued the singing with the performing of a couple radio hits (including a Justin Bieber song or two). I'm sure we gave everyone on the ground below a bit of a laugh! 

Our performance was the opening of the finals at 8 p.m., followed by each homecoming queen walking the stage with her father. For those girls whose father wasn't there, they borrowed some one else's! My dad stepped in place for Miss Tennessee.

The top 10

Then the top 10 were announced. Unfortunately, I didn't make the cut. The top 10 consisted of Iowa (who was crowned America's Homecoming Queen), North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, California, Nevada, Washington, Tennessee, Maryland, and Hawaii. The top 10 girls went across the stage again for round two of the evening gown competition, and then were asked an on stage question.  Although I didn't make the top 10, I wasn't disappointed.  I was too busy feeling the excitement of the top 10 queens. There wasn't a single girl there who didn't deserve the title.

The girls I met and the experiences I had were more than I could have asked for. I met some of the kindest and most genuine girls I ever have in my life. It was clear that everyone cared about one another. It reassured my hope for the future generation. I know that although I didn't win the title, I'm still a winner. I took something from this experience.

I took many things, as a matter of fact. I gained tolerance for wearing high heels for an extended period of time. I realized that it's quite easy for me to talk in front of a big crowd. I learned how to better become acquainted with those I don't know. (This will surely be helpful to me at Michigan State University next month!)

I saw that there are some very remarkable people in this world. I was so inspired by some of these girls' actions, and very impressed with much of their community service efforts. Also, I hope to have gained some life long friends<3 (and a place to stay in almost every state!) I spent nearly every moment of every day with multiple girls from the south, and I also gained a hint of a southern accent in my speech. I've even slipped out a "ya'll" or two. I wonder how long this will last…. Please don't disown me, Michigan.  

Though this has been a marvelous journey, there is only one thing that concerns me — the validity of this "nonprofit" program. Hardly any information about the scholarships has been said, and the dollar amounts for any and all of the scholarships have yet to be spoken of.  I also asked last year's queen, Kaitlin Long about her scholarships. Although she has had to wait until the end of her term to receieve her scholarships, even she has no clue what the dollar amount will be. I have a terrible hunch that the amount of money that we've had to put into this program far exceeds the scholarship amounts that we've won.

Editor's note: Raime Lamb is Hartland High School's 2010-11 homecoming queen and 2011 graduate. In April, she to qualify for the finals of America's Homecoming Queen competition.