Hi Friends and Family!!!!!! Happy November 18th, 2009!
Today marks my 4 Month Anniversary since winning the title of Miss Florida USA 2010! Can you believe it??!! The time has been flying by and before you know it, I will be on the Miss USA stage at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas! WOOHOO!
The past 4 months have been a complete whirlwind! Directly after winning my title, I had my first appearance, contract signing, met my publicist (Kampi), and went on a 10 day media tour around the state. The Orlando Magic was my first stop as they had already lined up a 'Press Day' for several of the local TV stations. From there I was off to Tampa, back to Orlando, back to Tampa, down to Ft Myers, Palm Beach Gardens and finally Miami. By the time I was finished I had been to 18 different appearances, been in several newspapers and was on a plane to the Bahamas to support my lil' sis Kayla Collier at the Miss Teen USA pageant!
When I returned, I had no time to think! It was time to move out of my two bedroom apartment in Orlando. With all the traveling I am doing (16,000 miles since July), I am only in Orlando 2-3 days a week and it seemed a bit ridiculous to have a spacious 2 bedroom apartment for those few days. I played with the idea of completely moving out of Orlando, but when the Orlando Magic offered me the opportunity to emcee the weekday games with Scotty B, I could not refuse! I love my Magic family and I am honored to still be involved with the organization! At this point, I have places to stay in Orlando, Ormond Beach, Tampa, West Palm and Miami. I am so lucky to have friends and family throughout the state who support and encourage me to achieve my dreams!
I must admit, at times I basically live out of my car....you do not want to see what my trunk looks like...lol Just imagine interview suits, casual clothes, cocktail dresses, evening gowns plus random accessories and shoes!!!! What???!!! You never know when the opportunity of a lifetime will present itself :)
I spent most of August finishing my obligations to the Orlando Magic as a Magic Dancer. The Magic has been my life for the past 5 years so I wanted to be able to say THANK YOU up until the day I returned all my costumes! September rolled around, and the appearances really started coming in. I had a lot of business meetings to toss around some ideas and to become more familiar with various organizations. In this time I met with the Florida Engineering Society in Tallahassee. I knew that I wanted to some how relate my title to the world of engineering. I decided that I wanted to inspire young women in the middle school grades who were currently participating in the Regional Florida Science and Engineering Fairs. Middle School seems to be the time when peer pressure steps in and many girls think it is "uncool" to be smart. I want to be proof that you can be the captain of the cheer team, Homecoming Queen, and be intelligent. I have put together a $100 scholarship for one female student at each regional fair for an outstanding engineering project. I hope I can be that extra motivation to keep the next generation of women engineers thriving and reaching new heights! At this time, I am just under the amount needed to provide the plaques and scholarships. The first fair takes place in December and the other 33 are between mid-January and March. I truly believe I can make an impact :)
October was AWESOME!!!!! I had approximately 4-6 appearances a week, my new sister queen Alyssa Rivera was crowned Miss Florida Teen USA 2010, and I celebrated my 26th birthday! Can you believe it??? Strangely, 26 feels so much better than 25! I am not sure why, but I enjoyed celebrated the BIG 2-6....I have done so much in my 26 years, it is ridiculous! I can only imagine what the next 26 years has to offer :)
Now it is November and I feel like I am just getting started. When I started pageantry I knew that I wanted to leave a legacy. As Miss Florida USA, I realize that I represent every man, woman, and child of this state and I want to visit as much of the state as possible. When I was a little girl, one of my fondest memories was climbing the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. I was 4 years old yet I remember the trip up the lighthouse vividly. As Miss Florida USA, I plan to Climb for a Cure all 29 lighthouses in our great state! They span from the Alabama/Florida border down to the Florida Keys. My goal is to stimulate local tourism by bringing locals out to celebrate the maritime heritage of our lighthouses. There is amazing history that accompanies each of our lighthouses and I hope that the citizens of our state can embrace that history. In the process, I plan to raise funds for Susan G Komen, for the research and development of finding a cure. I have learned that 1 out of every 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, a startling statistic. Since winning my title, I have several friends/acquaintances who have been diagnosed! The only thing that is comforting is that more and more women are becoming aware of the warning signs and are receiving early detections.
I hope the next Miss Florida USA will take this as an opportunity to travel the state and Climb for HER Cause, whatever it may be!
My first climb will be the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse on January 10th, 2010. They are celebrating their historic 150th anniversary of being lit and have been recognized as an Outstanding National Monument ( the only Outstanding National Monument east of the Mississippi!) January 10th, will be a day of celebration and I am excited to go to my hometown to share in this experience!
Wow! That was way longer than I expected this email to be so I will end my update here :) If you want to stay up-to-date with what I am doing thoughout Florida feel free to visit my blog at http://missfloridausa2010.blogspot.com/ I am still in the works of updating the site. I started it in September so that month and prior is missing a lot of events. If things ever slow down, I will fill in the blanks...lol
Also, if you are interested in sponsorship opportunities or donating to either my Female Scholarship or Climb for the Cure please feel free to contact me ! Thank you everybody !
Please stay tuned as 5 months from TODAY will be the highly anticipated Miss USA 2010 pageant airing LIVE from the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas!
Thanks again!
Megan Clementi
Miss Florida USA 2010
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