Shoals native takes Miss America stage in 3 weeks
MUSCLE SHOALS — Since she was eight years old, Muscle Shoals native Makalyn Heaslett recalls sitting in front of a television screen watching the crowning of Miss America each year.
For the last 10 years, Heaslett has competed for local and state titles of her own. Now, in her final year of competition, her hard work has paid off as she prepares to take the stage at the Miss America competition at the end of the month.
Heaslett, who was crowned Miss Tennessee, is spending the final weeks before the Miss America competition preparing for a national stage — while trying not to lose the sense of wonder that first drew her to the competition as a child.
“Sometimes along the way I feel like I lose that glassy-eyed girl feeling because I’ve been around it for so long,” she said.
But she still experiences the feeling whenever she meets people involved with the Miss America organization for the first time.
“I see these little girls and boys, or even older people and they’re like, ‘This is the coolest thing ever!” she said. “They get that look in their eyes that I used to have as a kid watching Miss America. I want to remember that and hold on to that feeling.”
That perspective has become part of Heaslett’s preparation as she heads toward the Miss America finals Sept. 6 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Unlike the state competition, where questions centered largely on why she should be Miss Tennessee, the national competition requires Heaslett to think beyond the boundaries of the state she represents.
She is preparing to answer such questions as: Why should you be Miss America? How will you unite Americans? What would your goals be if chosen to represent the country?
Her preparation extends far beyond the stage.
Heaslett is working to expand her community service initiative, “Be Bold, Brave & Brilliant,” across Tennessee. She has educational materials, including coloring sheets and other resources, that she hopes to get into classrooms across all 95 Tennessee counties prior to the Aug. 17 deadline for the Miss America Quality of Life Award.
Her goal as Miss Tennessee is to visit all 95 counties in the state, an undertaking that has been made possible in part by the people she meets along the way.
That spirit of community feels familiar.
“Growing up in Muscle Shoals was such a blessing because the community cares so deeply about each other and they’re always willing to help you,” she said.
The Miss America competition will be her final opportunity to compete in the organization. That finality has made the experience feel different.
She knows there can only be one Miss America, but she also knows how rare it is to get the chance to compete at all.
“Only 52 girls out of the entire country get to represent a class for Miss America. You’re more likely to have a son compete in the Super Bowl than you are to have a daughter compete for Miss America. That’s how rare this is,” she said.
So, she is trying to prepare as much as possible — and then let herself enjoy it.
“It’s so neat to think about how this is my path and this is what was handed to me. I don’t want to take it for granted,” she said, “and I don’t want to walk away not having won and being disappointed that I didn’t make enough friends or didn’t have enough fun.”
After a decade of competing, she knows this is the last time she will step onto that stage as a contestant.
Somewhere underneath the preparation, interviews and community service work is the 8-year-old girl watching Miss America for the first time. Heaslett wants to remember what it felt like to look at the stage and think it was the coolest thing in the world.
She wants to carry that feeling with her all the way to Florida.
