WEBVTT 00:04.000 --> 00:06.222 I'm second Lieutenant Mati SARS crowned 00:06.222 --> 00:09.789 Miss America 2024 . So I was born and 00:09.800 --> 00:12.022 raised in Fort Smith Arkansas . So it's 00:12.022 --> 00:14.189 like a little , little ish town on the 00:14.189 --> 00:16.700 border of Oklahoma . My entire family 00:16.709 --> 00:20.430 has had such a huge impact on my life . 00:20.440 --> 00:22.520 My mom is obviously a very big one . 00:22.540 --> 00:24.318 She passed when she was 41 from 00:24.318 --> 00:26.750 pancreatic cancer . So having that my 00:26.760 --> 00:28.870 last year of high school kind of 00:28.879 --> 00:32.180 obviously changed my entire life . I 00:32.189 --> 00:34.630 was really struggling with this idea of 00:34.639 --> 00:36.861 grief and then getting yelled at in the 00:36.861 --> 00:39.020 military every day and not having any 00:39.029 --> 00:41.085 of these things that I was used to . 00:41.400 --> 00:43.456 I've spoken a lot about , you know , 00:43.490 --> 00:45.712 what it looks like to grieve and really 00:45.712 --> 00:48.069 I had poured so much into , to school 00:48.080 --> 00:50.700 to flying . I went from being like 50th 00:50.709 --> 00:52.653 in my class to number two within a 00:52.653 --> 00:54.709 semester in my high school because I 00:54.709 --> 00:56.876 had , I didn't know what to do with my 00:56.876 --> 00:58.931 emotions . And then I got to the Air 00:58.931 --> 01:01.042 Force Academy and all of those little 01:01.042 --> 01:03.153 things that I was doing weren't there 01:03.153 --> 01:05.320 anymore . And so then I needed to find 01:05.320 --> 01:07.542 something else that I could pour into . 01:07.542 --> 01:07.500 And so I watched my cousin compete in 01:07.510 --> 01:09.510 pageants and I thought , you know , 01:09.510 --> 01:11.621 that would be kind of fun to get , to 01:11.621 --> 01:13.621 be a part of it looks like it could 01:13.621 --> 01:15.510 help me a little bit . And then I 01:15.510 --> 01:17.510 really started to see what pageants 01:17.510 --> 01:19.677 stood for , for me . And it was really 01:19.677 --> 01:21.788 an avenue to do community service and 01:21.788 --> 01:23.899 leadership . And a lot of this public 01:23.899 --> 01:23.860 speaking to help set me up for the rest 01:23.870 --> 01:26.529 of my life . I think the Air Force 01:26.540 --> 01:28.373 really tries to provide a lot of 01:28.373 --> 01:30.580 avenues whether it's uh becoming an 01:30.589 --> 01:32.700 officer and going through that entire 01:32.700 --> 01:35.199 path of uh going to college or even for 01:35.209 --> 01:37.265 the rest of the force trying to send 01:37.265 --> 01:39.487 them back to school for different forms 01:39.487 --> 01:41.542 of higher education . That is such a 01:41.542 --> 01:43.709 big thing for the Air Force to educate 01:43.709 --> 01:45.820 their members . And then another part 01:45.820 --> 01:47.765 is community service . Obviously , 01:47.765 --> 01:49.876 you're serving your nation by putting 01:49.876 --> 01:51.987 on the uniform , but you get to serve 01:51.987 --> 01:54.042 and Miss America in whatever way you 01:54.042 --> 01:56.209 see fit in order to compete , you have 01:56.209 --> 01:58.209 to have a service platform . And so 01:58.209 --> 01:59.987 mine has been the Whitney Marsh 01:59.987 --> 02:01.876 Foundation and it's a nonprofit I 02:01.876 --> 02:04.042 started about five years ago in memory 02:04.042 --> 02:06.265 of my mom . And so I've had this entire 02:06.265 --> 02:08.153 journey of getting to use that to 02:08.153 --> 02:09.987 promote to other people to serve 02:09.987 --> 02:11.931 outside of my uniform . And then I 02:11.931 --> 02:13.729 think the last biggest piece is 02:13.740 --> 02:16.520 leadership you serve in a very obvious 02:16.529 --> 02:18.589 way as a leader in the military , no 02:18.600 --> 02:20.656 matter what rank you are , no matter 02:20.656 --> 02:22.711 where you come from , no matter what 02:22.711 --> 02:22.479 you look like , you are a leader in the 02:22.490 --> 02:24.479 military and we get to do the same 02:24.490 --> 02:26.712 thing in the Miss America opportunity . 02:26.712 --> 02:28.601 And , and that's a big part of my 02:28.601 --> 02:30.712 personality . So I do feel like I can 02:30.712 --> 02:32.823 serve in both of those roles and they 02:32.823 --> 02:34.990 do not in any way , take away from one 02:34.990 --> 02:37.101 another . And so I think knowing that 02:37.101 --> 02:39.323 you can join the military and you don't 02:39.323 --> 02:41.323 have to give up very vital parts of 02:41.323 --> 02:43.546 your personality to serve . That's been 02:43.546 --> 02:45.657 the biggest part for me as being Miss 02:45.657 --> 02:47.657 America and Second Lieutenant Marsh 02:47.657 --> 02:49.768 getting to show other young women you 02:49.768 --> 02:51.990 can break whatever stereotypes that you 02:51.990 --> 02:54.046 want to because the only person that 02:54.046 --> 02:56.046 defines what you do is you . And if 02:56.046 --> 02:58.323 that means stepping outside of the box , 02:58.323 --> 03:00.657 throwing all the stereotypes of the win , 03:00.657 --> 03:03.110 then do it . I challenge other women to 03:03.119 --> 03:06.350 just do what you love , the diversity 03:06.360 --> 03:08.471 and the things that you love and what 03:08.471 --> 03:10.527 you bring to the table is what makes 03:10.527 --> 03:12.527 our forces stronger and recognizing 03:12.527 --> 03:14.693 that and being able to pour into those 03:14.693 --> 03:16.638 areas of your life will make you a 03:16.638 --> 03:18.527 better leader . And so for me not 03:18.527 --> 03:20.749 letting go of the feminine side and not 03:20.749 --> 03:22.971 letting go of being Miss America or all 03:22.971 --> 03:25.082 these other avenues that I care about 03:25.082 --> 03:27.138 have enabled me to stand up a little 03:27.138 --> 03:29.193 bit taller and help the other people 03:29.193 --> 03:28.490 that stand beside me .