1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,222 I'm second Lieutenant Mati SARS crowned 3 00:00:06,222 --> 00:00:09,789 Miss America 2024 . So I was born and 4 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,022 raised in Fort Smith Arkansas . So it's 5 00:00:12,022 --> 00:00:14,189 like a little , little ish town on the 6 00:00:14,189 --> 00:00:16,700 border of Oklahoma . My entire family 7 00:00:16,709 --> 00:00:20,430 has had such a huge impact on my life . 8 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:22,520 My mom is obviously a very big one . 9 00:00:22,540 --> 00:00:24,318 She passed when she was 41 from 10 00:00:24,318 --> 00:00:26,750 pancreatic cancer . So having that my 11 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:28,870 last year of high school kind of 12 00:00:28,879 --> 00:00:32,180 obviously changed my entire life . I 13 00:00:32,189 --> 00:00:34,630 was really struggling with this idea of 14 00:00:34,639 --> 00:00:36,861 grief and then getting yelled at in the 15 00:00:36,861 --> 00:00:39,020 military every day and not having any 16 00:00:39,029 --> 00:00:41,085 of these things that I was used to . 17 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:43,456 I've spoken a lot about , you know , 18 00:00:43,490 --> 00:00:45,712 what it looks like to grieve and really 19 00:00:45,712 --> 00:00:48,069 I had poured so much into , to school 20 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,700 to flying . I went from being like 50th 21 00:00:50,709 --> 00:00:52,653 in my class to number two within a 22 00:00:52,653 --> 00:00:54,709 semester in my high school because I 23 00:00:54,709 --> 00:00:56,876 had , I didn't know what to do with my 24 00:00:56,876 --> 00:00:58,931 emotions . And then I got to the Air 25 00:00:58,931 --> 00:01:01,042 Force Academy and all of those little 26 00:01:01,042 --> 00:01:03,153 things that I was doing weren't there 27 00:01:03,153 --> 00:01:05,320 anymore . And so then I needed to find 28 00:01:05,320 --> 00:01:07,542 something else that I could pour into . 29 00:01:07,542 --> 00:01:07,500 And so I watched my cousin compete in 30 00:01:07,510 --> 00:01:09,510 pageants and I thought , you know , 31 00:01:09,510 --> 00:01:11,621 that would be kind of fun to get , to 32 00:01:11,621 --> 00:01:13,621 be a part of it looks like it could 33 00:01:13,621 --> 00:01:15,510 help me a little bit . And then I 34 00:01:15,510 --> 00:01:17,510 really started to see what pageants 35 00:01:17,510 --> 00:01:19,677 stood for , for me . And it was really 36 00:01:19,677 --> 00:01:21,788 an avenue to do community service and 37 00:01:21,788 --> 00:01:23,899 leadership . And a lot of this public 38 00:01:23,899 --> 00:01:23,860 speaking to help set me up for the rest 39 00:01:23,870 --> 00:01:26,529 of my life . I think the Air Force 40 00:01:26,540 --> 00:01:28,373 really tries to provide a lot of 41 00:01:28,373 --> 00:01:30,580 avenues whether it's uh becoming an 42 00:01:30,589 --> 00:01:32,700 officer and going through that entire 43 00:01:32,700 --> 00:01:35,199 path of uh going to college or even for 44 00:01:35,209 --> 00:01:37,265 the rest of the force trying to send 45 00:01:37,265 --> 00:01:39,487 them back to school for different forms 46 00:01:39,487 --> 00:01:41,542 of higher education . That is such a 47 00:01:41,542 --> 00:01:43,709 big thing for the Air Force to educate 48 00:01:43,709 --> 00:01:45,820 their members . And then another part 49 00:01:45,820 --> 00:01:47,765 is community service . Obviously , 50 00:01:47,765 --> 00:01:49,876 you're serving your nation by putting 51 00:01:49,876 --> 00:01:51,987 on the uniform , but you get to serve 52 00:01:51,987 --> 00:01:54,042 and Miss America in whatever way you 53 00:01:54,042 --> 00:01:56,209 see fit in order to compete , you have 54 00:01:56,209 --> 00:01:58,209 to have a service platform . And so 55 00:01:58,209 --> 00:01:59,987 mine has been the Whitney Marsh 56 00:01:59,987 --> 00:02:01,876 Foundation and it's a nonprofit I 57 00:02:01,876 --> 00:02:04,042 started about five years ago in memory 58 00:02:04,042 --> 00:02:06,265 of my mom . And so I've had this entire 59 00:02:06,265 --> 00:02:08,153 journey of getting to use that to 60 00:02:08,153 --> 00:02:09,987 promote to other people to serve 61 00:02:09,987 --> 00:02:11,931 outside of my uniform . And then I 62 00:02:11,931 --> 00:02:13,729 think the last biggest piece is 63 00:02:13,740 --> 00:02:16,520 leadership you serve in a very obvious 64 00:02:16,529 --> 00:02:18,589 way as a leader in the military , no 65 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:20,656 matter what rank you are , no matter 66 00:02:20,656 --> 00:02:22,711 where you come from , no matter what 67 00:02:22,711 --> 00:02:22,479 you look like , you are a leader in the 68 00:02:22,490 --> 00:02:24,479 military and we get to do the same 69 00:02:24,490 --> 00:02:26,712 thing in the Miss America opportunity . 70 00:02:26,712 --> 00:02:28,601 And , and that's a big part of my 71 00:02:28,601 --> 00:02:30,712 personality . So I do feel like I can 72 00:02:30,712 --> 00:02:32,823 serve in both of those roles and they 73 00:02:32,823 --> 00:02:34,990 do not in any way , take away from one 74 00:02:34,990 --> 00:02:37,101 another . And so I think knowing that 75 00:02:37,101 --> 00:02:39,323 you can join the military and you don't 76 00:02:39,323 --> 00:02:41,323 have to give up very vital parts of 77 00:02:41,323 --> 00:02:43,546 your personality to serve . That's been 78 00:02:43,546 --> 00:02:45,657 the biggest part for me as being Miss 79 00:02:45,657 --> 00:02:47,657 America and Second Lieutenant Marsh 80 00:02:47,657 --> 00:02:49,768 getting to show other young women you 81 00:02:49,768 --> 00:02:51,990 can break whatever stereotypes that you 82 00:02:51,990 --> 00:02:54,046 want to because the only person that 83 00:02:54,046 --> 00:02:56,046 defines what you do is you . And if 84 00:02:56,046 --> 00:02:58,323 that means stepping outside of the box , 85 00:02:58,323 --> 00:03:00,657 throwing all the stereotypes of the win , 86 00:03:00,657 --> 00:03:03,110 then do it . I challenge other women to 87 00:03:03,119 --> 00:03:06,350 just do what you love , the diversity 88 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,471 and the things that you love and what 89 00:03:08,471 --> 00:03:10,527 you bring to the table is what makes 90 00:03:10,527 --> 00:03:12,527 our forces stronger and recognizing 91 00:03:12,527 --> 00:03:14,693 that and being able to pour into those 92 00:03:14,693 --> 00:03:16,638 areas of your life will make you a 93 00:03:16,638 --> 00:03:18,527 better leader . And so for me not 94 00:03:18,527 --> 00:03:20,749 letting go of the feminine side and not 95 00:03:20,749 --> 00:03:22,971 letting go of being Miss America or all 96 00:03:22,971 --> 00:03:25,082 these other avenues that I care about 97 00:03:25,082 --> 00:03:27,138 have enabled me to stand up a little 98 00:03:27,138 --> 00:03:29,193 bit taller and help the other people 99 00:03:29,193 --> 00:03:28,490 that stand beside me .