On Thursday, December 16, 2021, after winning the Miss America contest at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, Miss Alaska Emma Broyles was crowned by Miss America 2020 Camille Schrier. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Anchorage, Alaska (Associated Press)-The newly crowned Miss America made history, becoming the first Korean-American in the 100-year history of the game and the first Alaskan to receive the title.
On December 17, a beaming Emma Broyles (Emma Broyles) told the Associated Press on a Zoom conference call: “I can never imagine that I will be Miss America in a million years, and even more. Needless to say I will become Miss Alaska.”
From Connecticut, she won the game about 12 hours ago.
In fact, she was convinced that they were wrong. The last two contestants are Miss Alabama Broyles and Lauren Bradford. Broyles said she thinks Bradford will become an amazing Miss America.
“Then they said Alaska, and I said,’Impossible. Are you sure? Would you like to check the card again?” She said, before the emotions overwhelmed her, she began to cry tears of joy.
“I can’t believe it,” Broyles said. “I am very, very grateful to everyone who has always supported my hometown. I am very happy that I can bring the title of Miss America back to Alaska for the first time in history.”
The first Miss America project began in 1921 as a beauty contest in Atlantic City, New Jersey. However, Broyles is only the 94th Miss America.
Due to the pandemic, this event was not held last year. It has shifted from an emphasis on appearance to focus on leadership, talent and communication skills, and it has not been held for a few years in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Broyles, 20, said her grandparents immigrated to Anchorage from South Korea about 50 years ago, when her mother was not yet born.
“Although my mother is all Korean, she was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska,” Broyles said.
The Miss America organization “believes that Emma is the first Korean American to win the crown,” spokesperson Matt Sisluk said in a text message to the Associated Press.
Her mother was a special education teacher at Anchorage Service High School, and Broys attended the same school.
Broyles chose Special Olympics as her social impact initiative. In addition to her mother’s position, her brother Brendan has Down syndrome and participates in sports events with the Special Olympics in Alaska.
“I have witnessed the impact of Special Olympics on families with intellectual disabilities. I know how important Special Olympics are to our communities in Anchorage and Alaska, as well as communities across the country and around the world,” she said.
Broyles said she looks forward to working with Special Olympics to promote tolerance, compassion and openness through sports.
“It’s important to have this platform to talk about why tolerance is important in such a time when our country is so divided, and why it’s important to be compassionate, why it’s important to have empathy, and why it’s important to be open minded and willing to listen to those who are The opinions of people who you are different or may have different opinions with you, I think this is a time when we need it more than ever,” she said.
In addition to her title, Broyles also received more than $100,000 in college scholarships, which she calls “life-changing money”.
She is currently a junior at Arizona State University, studying biomedical sciences and sound performance, and said that the scholarship will enable her to enter medical school.
But in the next year, the Miss America organization said in a statement that she will serve as a role model and advocate for young women, traveling about 20,000 miles a month.
Broyles’ future plans include becoming a dermatologist and returning to Alaska to pursue her career.
“Anchorage has some special places, which is why I know I want to spend the rest of my life in Anchorage, even though I am going through this small interruption,” she said.
