The lovely Top 5
My mom:)
The new Miss Muskingum Valley, Stephanie Rodgers!
2800)
OU Idol took over my life for pretty much the entire month of October. I literally ate, slept, and breathed OU Idol. My social life was a bit nonexistent and even my school work took a backseat to this production. It was the first show I have ever produced, and fortunately I had the help of my classmates, our Bobcats for Babies collegiate council, and the NCASC communications club. 
When these babies are born early, there vital organs are not yet developed causing severe problems. Here is a picture of our campus graffiti wall we painted to further heighten awareness of premature birth.
Aaron Cox wins OU Idol and the prize package worth over $1000! Aaron sang John Mayer's,"I Don't Trust Myself with Loving You" while playing acoustic guitar in the Finals Round.
for the March of Dimes. Other guests included Celebrity Chef Rock (pictured above) and Congresswoman Jackson-Lee, both of whom care dearly about issues dealing with infant mortality and premature birth. The President of the March of Dimes, Dr. Jennifer Howse, spoke to the National Youth Council when we arrived at the conference. This is always a highlight of my weekend. Below is a picture of me with Dr. Howse.
She is an amazing transformational leader! The weekend was full of stories of triumph from families who have dealt with premature birth and workshops to help each volunteer better serve his community. I was part of a generation panel workshop that discussed trends in volunteering over each generation. I represented Generation Y and sat along side a representative from the Generation X, the Baby Boomers, and the Elders Generation.
This was my third Volunteer Leadership Conference. It is always refreshing to my commitment to the March of Dimes and it is always great to spend time with other members of the National Youth Council. We are all college students from different states across the country and we are almost like extended family. Pictured below are some of our NYC members.
My Miss North East Ohio directors, Anne and Ken Hablitzel
e with me (I think she fears I will fall asleep at the wheel). Regardless, I had not seen my mom too much lately and it was fun spend time with her on the trip. The pageant took place on Thursday with interviews beginning in the afternoon. The contestants were split into five categories ranging from age five to twenty-one. I enjoyed talking with the little ones and was impressed with their speaking ability at such young ages. When I was seven years old, I highly doubt I could articulate my words very well. I was more worried about digging in the dirt and beating the boy next door in basketball.
March. She is a very beautiful, talented girl and was full of energy the whole day! Alison Liscoe also had a very impressive resume. She was a past competitor in the Miss Ohio America program, 3rd Runner-Up to Miss Ohio USA, and a semi-finalist on "America's Next Top Model." Now you know why I stood at the opposite end of the line for the judges photo! Also, Alison is getting married next week. Sylvia's husband Harvey was giving her all kinds of marriage advice, most of which was rooted in humor.
g part of the evening was the opportunity to meet Whitney Sue Fricke, the new Miss Cuyahoga County. She is absolutely beautiful and she too has a recent obsession with super-high waist line. We even took a picture to prove it. Whitney did a wonderful job performing her talent piece, "Orange Colored Sky." She has great stage presence. After the show, my mom and I met Whitney's family, who were all very kind. I can see Whitney doing very well this year at Miss Ohio. 
as no sense waiting to go back in the morning. It made for a long eleven hour day at work, but the experience at Miss North Royalton was worth it. It is always nice to experience an interview from the other side of the judge's table. I enjoy judging and it is always a good learning experience. 
e a great first impression with the judges. Below are some of the pictures I took of Sarah in her different wardrobe pieces. The bright pink g
own at the bottom was Sarah's prom dress which she will now use for a production number. I love a girl who knows how to reuse and save money! Especially when the gown looks like brand new and great on her. The middle picture is of her walk-on gown and the top picture is of Sarah in her evening gown. It looks even more beautiful in person.
eat to see Kasey Wilson, Becky Minger, Roberta Camp, and Marlia Fontaine. We each performed two songs: Kasey sang "Never Alone" and "Time to Say Goodbye," (my favorite of hers), Becky sang "Summertime" and "Gold," (her Miss Ohio talent 
piece), and Marlia performed "The Impossible Dream" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I sang "At last" and Jordin Spark's (last years American Idol) rendition of "To Love Somebody." Originally, I had planned on singing my Miss Ohio talent piece, "I am Changing," but I lost about half of my voice from getting no sleep at my conference. Thankfully, I was well enough that I could somewhat sing by Sunday.
great job emceeing the event which was held at the Westbrook Country Club in Mansfield. One of the highlights of the event was getting to see Roberta and Kasey's engagement rings...both
which are gorgeous! Best wishes to them both, although, I must say I will miss competing with Kasey. I always enjoyed competing with her and thought she would become a Miss Ohio.
My roommate, Heather Wells, and I had a wonderful week with them. On the day of Heather's interview, I had spare time in the morning, so Dr. Chuck took me out on his gator. We went through miles of woods and farmland with their dog Buff chasing along behind us. Everynight Dr. Chuck would stay up until Heathe
r and I would return home so we could all chat about the day as we rampaged the cupboards. After eating all of his dried mangos, he decided to buy us each our own pack.
, I got a picture with Nadji and Chuck as well as Buff whom they call, "The best dog in the world"....for good reason.
g volunteers for the March of Dimes and provide these students with the resources they needed to implement March of Dimes work in their communities. As a council, we were divided into committees to plan workshops, general sessions, attendee experience activities, special events and excursions, and many other logistics that went into planning the conference. To the left is a picture taken of some of our National Youth Council members. Megan Myers (on the far right), our 2008-2009 National Youth Council chair, is also from Ohio but attends the University of Pennsylvania.
l Youth Council member served as a dorm floor leader which consisted of about twenty attendees. Since the title of our conference was "Destination: Healthy Babies," each floor was a different location. My floor was Kansas City, which is known for the biggest "Bikers for Babies Ride." To the right is a picture of our dorm floor taken during the Amazing Race competition. Our dorm floor had attendees from Ohio, Nebraska, Alaska, Nevada, and Oregon.
ational Youth Council responsibilities created a great deal of stress and little-to-no sleep, it was clear that the attendees were having a wonderful time. They were excited to learn more about the March of Dimes, take part in workshops, and listen to our inspirational guest speakers like Greg Gumbel (pictured to the left) and Kari Strug (former gold medalist in gymnastics at the '96 Olympics). Everyone was truly moved by the heart-wrenchin
g stories from our ambassador families. Premature birth is more common in multiple births. The mother of these triplets (pictured to the right), credit the March of Dimes for their survival because of the amazing medical breakthroughs and advances funded by March of Dimes research. I asked for permission to post a piece of her message, because it displays the energy and drive of our youth volunteers today. Lauren's passion for this organization reminds me why we push ourselves so hard in our volunteer work...why we work day in and day out raising funds and heightening awareness for this cause. It is our duty- our responsibility as the next generation of parents. I volunteer for the March of Dimes because I know that the end result is worth it. Thanks to March of Dimes research, we now know that surfactant therapy can be given to premature babies to help their lungs develop and that women can decrease their chance of having a baby with a neural tube defect by over 70% by taking 400 micrograms of folic acid daily. These are just two amazing discoveries that have saved thousands of lives.The March of Dimes will fight day and night until the day all babies are born healthy. All of the teens around the United States who are a part of March of Dimes Team Youth need to hear the mission. They need to realize that every person, every dime, and every hour they spend volunteering changes a life and changes the future of the March of Dimes and babies born all around the world. That is why I feel that the group MOD.youth.motivation. will teach teens the mission of the March of Dimes and give them a reason to work and volunteer that much harder and be able to have a lot of motivation. Every teen counts and makes a difference. My goal is that every Chain Reaction across the United States will join this group and that every teen will work even harder. The March of Dimes has changed my life forever. The things I have learned and the people I have met will always be life long friends of mine whom I will never forget. My name is Lauren Stephens and I plan on being a life long volunteer for the March of Dimes.
The March of Dimes was founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to conquer polio in 1938. Seventeen years later, it did just that. The March of Dimes then broadened its mission to prevent all birth defects, and in recent years has focused on preventing preterm birth. These problems cost our society billions of dollars and have devasting effects on families. In addition, infants born prematurely are more likely to develop cerebral palsy, blindness, and mental retardation.
I want to be there the day when we can ensure that all babies are born healthy. I want to be there when no family has to suffer the heartbreak of seeing their baby hooked up to a ventilator in the NICU struggling to survive. I want to be there the day when the March of Dimes must once again redirect its mission, because birth defects and premature are no longer a problem. The organization has done it once, we can do it again. My March of Dimes volunteer work will end the day we can ensure all babies are born healthy and full-term.
Ladies in evening wear
Before the talent competition
