Alexis Barton

They say you never forget your first time.

Now, I'm not talking about that type of first time, but that's how I remember entering my very first beauty pageant.

No, scholarship pageant.

Now, understand, I had never run for anything competitively in my life before.

The only thing I'd won was the fourth grade spelling bee.

And among my classmates, I was kind of used to coming in second place.

And I was nobody's performer.

I threw up before every piano recital I ever had for ten years.

Straight.

But I wanted to know what it felt like to win.

And to be honest, I wanted that crown, not just any crown, the Miss Alabama crown.

Now, to understand how truly delusional that was, remember what I said about throwing up before piano recitals?

But a friend who supported my delusions

suggested that before I enter the Miss Alabama pageant system, that I do a pageant for practice.

And fortunately, there was a local pageant right around the corner.

We'll call it the Miss Jefferson County Legacy Jamboree Pageant.

Some of you know what I'm talking about.

I dashed off my application, mailed it in, and they called.

We'd love to talk to you.

And so I ran down to the Five Point South Library and had a little interview with the pageant committee, and they accepted me.