Kick-off

It's that time again! Miss Indiana kick-off took place in Zionsville yesterday. In less than 2 months, a new Miss Indiana will be crowned and representing the greatest state of the United 52 (Including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands). Although yesterday was quite an important day including participating in the lottery to choose our contestant order, reuniting with other contestants, and raising money for the Children's Miracle Network, all of this excitement barely measured up to the headlines of the weekend. While the hot top topic on most of our lips was the royal wedding, it wasn't William and Kate we were most interested in. Certainly the recently named "Most Eligible Bachelor" of England, Prince Harry, could score a beautiful wife among the Miss Indiana contestants because we are all very interested. :)

As you know, I was crowned Miss Wabash Valley only a few weeks ago but it has already been the cliche of a "whirlwind." With only 2 months to prepare for "pageant camp," lot's of planning is already taking place on top of final exams and waiting on a final decision from IU nursing school. During the week following the sweeps pageant, I had the privilege of participating in IUPUI's health fair with Outrun the Sun, a melanoma research foundation in Indianapolis. Dermatology students from IU med school joined our group in performing free skin cancer screenings for students and professors. Fortunately, all screenings went well and because of the literature we passed out, several students signed the pledge to ban the bed. I'm so blessed to work with such a wonderful group of people in Outrun the Sun. Recently I was asked to be the Kid's Zone coordinator for the June race at Fort Benjamin Harrison. This race is OTS's main fundraising event and consists of a 5-mile, 5k, 2-mile, and 1-mile race and a .5 mile kid's race during the Sunset Festival. Last year I ran the 5-mile race and was absolutely blown away by the community support. During the entire 5-miles, I was cheered on by other runners who spotted my blue survivor t-shirt. Crossing the finish-line was an emotional moment as a team participating in memory of loved one finished at the same time. This, of course, was another surreal moment that reminded me of how lucky I am and why I continue to fight for a cure. Tomorrow I'll be joining the coordinator on Radio Disney to promote the race and answer questions from local youth about Skin Cancer.

As you know, the month of May is an important month for Indianapolis because of the most-exciting racing event in the world, the Indianapolis 500!! But did you know that May is also Skin Cancer Awareness month?! Although we haven't seen the sun in a few days because of this dreary spring weather, don't forget to wear your sunscreen to fight off those invisible UVA radiation that can still penetrate the clouds. I would also like to challenge you to ditch the bed this month in honor of the 3.5 million cases of skin cancer that will be diagnosed this year.

With much thanks and Joy,

Katie D.

Miss WV '10