"The human mind plans the way, but the LORD directs the steps." proverbs 16:9
To my sweet Graduates, Congrats!
At this special time in your life I am eager to show you how delighted I am that you have reached this milestone in your life. As Executive Director of the local for the Miss America Pageants, your committee, mentors, sponsors, and coaches, we rejoice with you and want you to know of our pride and excitement as you move from this accomplishment into the next phase of your life. We also want you to know that wherever you go and whatever you do, you are going forward with our prayers for God's continued guidance, power, protection, and strength.
I
have told you many times to be kind to others, and this is
integral to living a good, fulfilling life. But the world will not
always be kind back to you. Sometimes life will be easy, but other times
it will lack justice and fairness. My single most important piece of
advice is this: Believe everything happens for a reason.
No matter what happens, believe that if you persevere, you will benefit. It may not be in the way you anticipate or wish, but it will be. Refuse to believe anything happens to you without a purpose meant to make you wiser or stronger. Give no person or moment the power to strip you of the ability to see hope. Leave no room in your heart for ambivalence or animosity. See every experience, even the ones that make you scream or cry, as a chance to grow and change for the better. And remember, if everything happens for a reason, then you are on this Earth for a reason, too. Make it one people will speak well of long after you are gone.
Unplug for at least an hour a day. Make unplugging a daily habit for the rest of your life. You’ve mastered the art of technological multitasking. I just don’t want you to forget the dying art of "being". Remember your pre-teen years? Playing in the sandbox, swinging on the swings for undistracted hours at a time because the iPhone hadn’t even been invented yet? Don’t let technology rob you of the experience of actual living, of loving others, of noticing the world around you. Most important, don’t let it rob you of the opportunity to get well acquainted with YOU. There’s only one of YOU in the universe. Learn to know yourself and love yourself as you are, and it won’t ever matter how many “likes” you get on Facebook. Congratulations!
I love you all and can't wait for the next chapters in your lives! Always here for you, only a phone call away! God Bless you!
Junann Smith
Executive Director
Miss Tulare County Scholarship Fund
local preliminary to Miss California and Miss America
No matter what happens, believe that if you persevere, you will benefit. It may not be in the way you anticipate or wish, but it will be. Refuse to believe anything happens to you without a purpose meant to make you wiser or stronger. Give no person or moment the power to strip you of the ability to see hope. Leave no room in your heart for ambivalence or animosity. See every experience, even the ones that make you scream or cry, as a chance to grow and change for the better. And remember, if everything happens for a reason, then you are on this Earth for a reason, too. Make it one people will speak well of long after you are gone.
Unplug for at least an hour a day. Make unplugging a daily habit for the rest of your life. You’ve mastered the art of technological multitasking. I just don’t want you to forget the dying art of "being". Remember your pre-teen years? Playing in the sandbox, swinging on the swings for undistracted hours at a time because the iPhone hadn’t even been invented yet? Don’t let technology rob you of the experience of actual living, of loving others, of noticing the world around you. Most important, don’t let it rob you of the opportunity to get well acquainted with YOU. There’s only one of YOU in the universe. Learn to know yourself and love yourself as you are, and it won’t ever matter how many “likes” you get on Facebook. Congratulations!
I love you all and can't wait for the next chapters in your lives! Always here for you, only a phone call away! God Bless you!
Junann Smith
Executive Director
Miss Tulare County Scholarship Fund
local preliminary to Miss California and Miss America
