Alexis Barton

And then all of a sudden, runner up.

Me?

An audible gasp went across the crowd, or so my mom says, but let's face it, she's biased.

And as I took my roses and stepped back into the shadows so the queen could be crowned, I didn't stop smiling.

Even though, you know, I did have Vaseline on my teeth, but really, it was because I knew that, in the words of James Baldwin, my crown had already been bought and paid for.

I just had to put it on.

And there was a silver lining, because I was named Miss Photogenic, which came with a year's worth of free hairstyling.

So technically, I did get a new crown twice a month for a whole year.

And I consider that a big win, because I was a broke college student.

And now, when I'm on stages like that, well, like this one, and I want to run and throw up offstage, I look around and I remember that everybody else is nervous, too.

And that this is just practice.

And we're all practicing.

Thank you.