'It's important to support women in all phases of life': Crowned Nebraska pageant winners share what they hope to accomplish during their reign (2024)

WELCOME BACK. WELL, THEY WERE RECENTLY CROWNED IN NEBRASKA ON JUNE 31ST AND QUICKLY TURNED AROUND TO COMPETE FOR THE MISS USA AND MISS TEEN USA TITLES IN HOLLYWOOD. JOINING ME NOW TO TALK ABOUT THAT EXCITING EXPERIENCE ARE MISS NEBRASKA USA, CAMERON BUCHANAN AND MISS NEBRASKA TEEN USA MAGGIE WOJENSKI. WELCOME YOU TO. HELLO. YES. OKAY. SO WHAT WAS IT LIKE WINNING THESE TITLES AND HAVING LITTLE TIME TO PREPARE? IT WAS SO EXCITING. MISS NEBRASKA USA WAS MY FIRST PAGEANT EVER, SO I WENT INTO IT WITH AN OPEN MIND AND JUST WANTING THE BEST EXPERIENCE. AND THAT’S WHAT I GOT. AND THEN DOING IT WITH MAGGIE, PREPARING FOR A MONTH FOR WAS DEFINITELY A LONG STRETCH, BUT WE DID IT. YEAH, IT WAS REALLY HARD. YOU KNOW, YOU DON’T THINK THAT. YOU THINK YOU HAVE A LOT OF TIME, BUT FOUR WEEKS IS NOT THAT MUCH TO PREPARE FOR A NATIONAL PAGEANT IS REALLY DIFFICULT. BUT WE HAD THE BEST TIME TOGETHER AND NOW WE’RE REALLY EXCITED FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR TOGETHER. AND IS THIS YOUR FIRST TIME, MAGGIE? UM, LIKE GOING THROUGH THE PAGEANT PROCESS OR HAVE YOU DONE BEFORE? SO I’VE DONE A FEW PAGEANTS BEFORE I STARTED MY PAGEANT JOURNEY. I GUESS ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO WITH A MISS AMERICA LOCAL COMPETITION. EVENTUALLY I COMPETED FOR MISS NEBRASKA TEEN, WHICH IS IN THE MISS AMERICA ORGANIZATION. AS WELL. AND THEN I COMPETED FOR MISS TEEN VOLUNTEER AMERICA BACK IN MARCH. AND THEN I HAD MISS NEBRASKA TEEN USA, AND THAT WAS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH THE USA ORGANIZATION. BUT I HAD A GREAT TIME. AND HOW LONG DO YOU GUYS USUALLY HAVE TO PREPARE FOR A BIG PAGEANT? SO NEBRASKA USUALLY HAPPENS IN FEBRUARY, SO YOU HAVE A FEW MONTHS TO PREPARE. SOME GIRLS WERE CROWNED BACK IN FEBRUARY, BUT NEBRASKA GOT PUSHED BACK, SO WE HAD ABOUT FOUR WEEKS THIS TIME. RIGHT. OKAY, SO WHAT WAS BOTH OF YOUR PLATFORMS? MY PLATFORMS. I CHOOSE ME, SO I BELIEVE WOMEN HAVE THE POWER INSIDE OF THEM. AND IT’S NOT EXTERNAL VALIDATION THAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR, BUT WE JUST NEED TO SUPPORT WOMEN IN ALL PHASES OF LIFE. AND YEAH, MINE IS CALLED GRIT IS OUR SUPERPOWER. IT ORIGINALLY STARTED AS A SUICIDE PREVENTION AND AWARENESS PLATFORM, BUT I WANTED A WAY TO SPEAK TO YOUNGER AUDIENCES. SO I WROTE A CHILDREN’S BOOK ALSO CALLED GRIT IS OUR SUPERPOWER. AND NOW I GO AND I TALK TO PEOPLE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING THAT GRIT AND RESILIENCE INSIDE OF OURSELVES AND BEING ABLE TO GET THROUGH ANYTHING, WHETHER THEY BE PHYSICAL OR EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS. AND WHAT’S YOUR PLAN THIS YEAR AS YOU REIGN? I CURRENTLY WORK AS A COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGIST. I’M IN A PHD PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, LINCOLN, SO I’M WORKING A LOT IN SUICIDE PREVENTION AND AWARENESS. SO I PLAN TO CONTINUE TO MAKE APPEARANCES IN A DIFFERENCE IN MENTAL HEALTH. I JUST WANT TO HAVE THE BEST YEAR POSSIBLE. I WANT TO MAKE AS MANY CONNECTIONS WITH PEOPLE AND DO AS MANY APPEARANCES AS POSSIBLE, AND MEET PEOPLE, HAVE EXPERIENCES LIKE THIS. I’VE NEVER BEEN IN A ROOM LIKE THIS BEFORE, SO THAT’S KIND OF COOL, BUT I JUST WANT TO DO EVERYTHING THAT I CAN AND BE THE BEST MISS NEBRASKA TEEN USA POSSIBLE. AWESOME. WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH, BOTH OF YOU FOR COMING ON AND SHARING THE EXPERIENCE AND ALL THE H