The night before leaving for Norfolk, Melissa, her mother and a member of the J’Maries staff were working frantically to finish those final alterations, paying attention to every detail. Melissa was going to her first pageant and both she and her mother wanted to be prepared for anything that would happen over the weekend. They soon realized that Melissa had everything she needed with her smile, kindness to share and willingness to meet and make new friends. Her dream of being the spotlight on stage was finally coming true. A graceful sixteen year old brown-eyed beauty stole everyone’s heart that weekend in Norfolk. Melissa not only walked away with many new life time friends, but a crown to bring home to David City Nebraska! Soon Melissa would know how this would change her life forever!

Melissa was born on January 25, 1991 and is currently a junior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. She’s also graduated from Nancy Bounds School of Modeling and Personal Development. She works hard to do her best in school, given that she’s in multiple activities that keep her extremely busy.

Melissa is involved in many organizations such as Dance Squad: she has taken dance lessons since she was five, helps with new dance ideas and always brings energy to the group. Marching Band and Pep Band; Melissa started playing the flute in the sixth grade. She is a member of Choir, Teens for Life, Journalism, Girls Volleyball Team and Track. This year she is in the musical and helps to choreograph the dances. She is an avid runner and has a great focus on nutrition, weight training and motivates many of her friends. She has been a life guard at the David City Aquatic Center now for two years and loves working with the young swimmers. She is a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and is active with the Teen Mass readings as well.

Melissa had gone into the pageant expecting nothing but to have an experience to last a lifetime and friends to go along with it. This is how Melissa does everything in her life, not taking anything for granted and trusting that God will be with her every step of the way.

Throughout her life, she’s always believed that anything can happen and you’ll never know what you can accomplish unless you try. Living with this attitude in life is a plus, but what’s even greater is having such loving family and friends that support you. It’s great to have so many people in her life that care about her, but it all comes down to the love and guidance her parents have provided her with throughout the years.

Melissa will make various appearance throughout the year. Her platform, SADD, “Students Against Destructive Decisions”, along with multiple other organizations will bring forth opportunities to make a difference in people’s lives. SADD is something Melissa feels passionately about because she feels that the knowledge and understanding that consequences do come as a result of decisions is something that many adolescents don’t understand until something happens to them or someone close to them.