STARKVILLE — After receiving her bachelor”s degree from Mississippi State University last year, Anna Tadlock was planning to come back for her master”s this fall.
But something got in the way. She was finally crowned Miss Mississippi 2009 Saturday — after participating in the pageant three times before– at the Vicksburg Convention Center
“Of course, now, after winning the pageant, my next year is basically being Miss Mississippi, and going to (the) Miss America (Pageant), and having that as a full-time job,” she said Tuesday morning, when she was reached by phone in Vicksburg. She has been splitting her time in the last few days between her hometown of Brandon and Vicksburg, where she has been making a dent in what she called “a nice stack” of Miss America Pageant paperwork.
She said she was not sure where she might end up using her $10,000 scholarship when the right time comes, but she would love to remain in Mississippi for graduate school, to study education. “It could be Mississippi State; it could be Mississippi College, since that”s closer to where I live,” she said.
The University of Mississippi, she said, is her “least likely” choice in the state. “Not because it”s a bad school,” she said, “but just, well, for one thing, it”s so far away from Jackson, and that”s where I”m most centrally located.”
Her new status as Miss Mississippi was just starting to kick in Tuesday. “I”m really excited about it,” she said.
In her new capacity, she will make special appearances throughout the state to promote it and the non-profit Children”s Miracle Network, and strive to be “a community-service leader,” she said.
She said her studies at MSU — she majored in communications with an emphasis in public relations — have already helped her “tremendously.” She singled out the skills in public speaking she acquired at the university.
And, she said, “It helps me know how to be relatable, I think, to people of all demographics and all generations.
“I really think my degree has helped me to be really organized and to be able to keep track of information that”s coming to me.”
If she comes back to Starkville, and to MSU in particular, she would be greeted with joy and appreciation.
Tadlock took a Principles of Public Relations class with Prof. John Forde in the spring of 2006. Three years later, he had no trouble remembering her.
“She sat near the front, was there all the time and was one of the best students in the large class,” said Forde, an associate professor of public relations and the head of the communications department at MSU. “Most everybody would agree that she was one of the best students we”ve had lately. … She did have good comments and would ask questions after class.”
She would go on to graduate summa cum laude, with a 3.96 GPA, from MSU in 2008.
Forde watched on television as she was crowned at Saturday”s pageant.
Heidi Lindsey, on the other hand, was there in person, and managed to congratulate Tadlock after the crowning.
The director of the Miss MSU Scholarship Program, Lindsey believes she first met Tadlock in her freshman year. “What struck me most about her was her poise, and her grace, and just her overall demeanor,” Lindsey said Tuesday. “She”s so approachable. She”s just nice and polite and humble, and, you know, easy to work with. I mean, she”s beautiful, but her poise!
“…It goes against the stereotype that, you know, that there”s a facade that you can”t break through and everything”s always serious and perfect. I mean, it”s not. She can throw her hair up in a ponytail and walk around in running clothes. She”s just a normal girl, you know?”
With his wife, Sara, Bill Foster, a former associate vice president for student affairs at MSU, was also at the pageant. It was the 50th consecutive Miss Mississippi Pageant they had attended. Both raved about Tadlock.
“She”s wonderful,” Sara Foster said. “And she”s a Mississippi State girl. She”s just one of the best, and she”s delightful.”
Tadlock was one of 11 MSU students in this year”s pageant — there were also Danielle Smith and Sarah Beth James, among others.
But Tadlock stood out, Sara Foster said.
“She was so relaxed on stage — you could tell she was just feeling good,” Sara Foster said. “She just had a glow about her.”
She and her husband had seen Tadlock in three pageants past. “But she (had) never shown the spark,” Sara Foster said. “Everybody was saying Anna Tadlock”s the girl — she”s gonna be tough to beat.”
“This year she had the confidence it takes,” Bill Foster said.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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