Miss Boise and STEM

One of my favorite hats (crowns?) that Miss America wears is her position as an advocate for women in STEM education. As a girl who grew up loving the arts, and eventually graduating with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism, I might not seem like the obvious choice as an ambassador for science, technology, engineering, and math. But, as fate would have it, a recent shift in my career path has stuck me smack dab in the middle of a male-dominated STEM-based work field. Starting as a new weather forecaster was daunting enough, but when I learned I was the only full time female weather anchor in the Boise television market, I was downright intimidated! Catching up on the science behind the forecasts I put together every day was an uphill battle, and it made me wish I had a strong female role model growing up that would have encouraged me to dig a little deeper into the STEM career fields, I just might have found my love for weather a little sooner.

I recently partnered with Mathnasium, a math only learning center that tutors students of all ages in ways that make sense to them and learned what a wonderful place it was to foster budding STEM fanatics like myself! I was lucky enough to attend the ribbon cutting of their new location in Boise this past week and take a tour of the incredible Micron 60’ STEM Mobile Discovery Lab with some of their students. It was such a fun afternoon of learning and laughing! I am so humbled and grateful to be a part of the push to get more girls involved in STEM careers, because equal treatment and pay in the workplace begins with equal education and training. I think President Obama said it best in his address at Boise State University in January, “When we've got everybody on the field, that’s when you win games. I mean, think about if we had as many young girls focused and aspiring to be scientists and astronauts and engineers. That’s a whole slew of talent that we want to make sure is on the field.” I am looking forward to using the scholarship money I earn through my year of service as Miss Boise to pay for the meteorology certification program that I start this fall, and continue to be a proud advocate for STEM education and female scientists everywhere!

Using Diabetes to Make a Difference

So many blessings can come out of the hard things in life that we go through. Challenges makes us stronger, and better equip us for difficult things we face in the future. They build character, and teach us things we would have never learned the easy way. My diabetes diagnosis was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to go through, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Another huge blessing that has come out of hard times is the friends I make through them! Many of my best friends have diabetes, and I wouldn’t have ever met them if I didn’t have this disease in my life! I sent out a tweet this morning, asking my followers what the best thing about their diabetes was. Almost every single one said something about the people they have met and the connections they have made because of it! I can personally say that the friendships I have formed because of diabetes are priceless. They are worth every finger poke and every site change I have had to do, and I wouldn't trade them for the world! 

One of the most rewarding things I have gotten from my experience with diabetes is the passion it gave me for making a difference! I think it’s a natural desire to want to “make a difference” or “change the world” before one dies, but sometimes we struggle with trying figure out how we are going to do so. Diabetes gave me something to be passionate about, and also the experience to be able to empathize with people who were going through the same thing as I was!

That is not only true of diabetes, but of any other challenge we face in our lives: we share a special connection with others who are going through the same things. We can share advice, since we have already gotten through what they are trying to battle. It’s an awesome way to figure out how you are going to change the world, and to not only survive adversity, but also use it to empower yourself and others!

Soooo…mixing both my mention of the amazing friends I have made through diabetes, and my being grateful for the chance to serve others because of my diabetes, this blog post is a shout out and dedication to one of my best diabetes friends, and best friends in general, who has used her experience with diabetes to make a difference: the amazing Hadley George!

This week I am visiting Hadley in Cincinnati for the second time this year! She started an organization called Type One Teens! The group of teens (obviously, living with T1D) gets together every month to do an activity, or just hang out!  She invited to come out in November for their huge annual event, Believe in Blue, which is a gala/dance to celebrate diabetes awareness month! All the Type One Teens invite their friends to come learn about diabetes, but also to dress up, eat food, and dance the night away! It was one of my favorite events I have been to all year. I had the time of my life!

Hadley, who is only 16, has some insanely impressive event organizing skills, and I respect her so much for how mature she is! Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of spending time with her knows that she has wisdom far beyond her years (and beyond most of our years, for that matter). Most importantly, she has passion! Diabetes, and the struggles she's had because of it, has driven her to make a difference in the lives of teens who are experiencing the same thing. 

I am back in Cincinnati again this week, and got to go to one of Type One Teen’s normal events (not as big as Believe in Blue, but still totally awesome)!   We spent a few hours at Starbucks, talking about life, diabetes, and writing letters to newly diagnosed teens for JDRF to include in their Bags of Hope (Hadley is just and endless source of awesome ideas).

It is so inspiring for me to see someone who is so much younger than me have such a positive attitude about this awful disease that has been placed in her life! She is the perfect example of how we can not just get through difficult times, but thrive in them, using them to change our own life and the lives of those around us! 

Whether you start your own organization like Hadley, become a JDRF youth ambassador, wear your insulin pump at Miss America, or come up with your own creative idea about how you can help and inspire other diabetics, I challenge you to DO IT!  Use your diabetes to make a difference!

All my love,

Sierra Sandison

Miss Idaho 2014
@sierrasandison

Miss Boise's CMNH Passion

"There are countless reasons why I am proud to be a representative of the Miss Idaho Organization; from the caliber of girls I stand alongside, to the positive changes in our communities that we each work tirelessly to trigger. With that being said, few experiences in this program have touched my heart the way that the Children’s Miracle Network has. 

Despite the hours I spent in germy dance studios and tumbling gyms growing up, I was very fortunate to always have good health, and I never had to be one of the 62 children that are admitted to a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital every minute. My health has never benefited from CMN specifically, but my life surely has. 

My best friend Kim, whom I met in the Broadcast Journalism program our freshman year at BYU, has a one in 10 million neurological disorder that has paralyzed her from the neck down on two separate occasions. Each of these attacks landed her in Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake to rehabilitate and benefit from CMN firsthand. It was through her experiences, and her gratitude, that I developed my own love and appreciation for CMN. 

In turn, it helped me establish a deep passion for the partnership the Miss America Organization has with the Children’s Miracle Network. I have been lucky enough to meet a few of the miracle beneficiaries of our fundraising efforts during my years in this organization, and each experience is a bright spot in a long list of incredible opportunities, with each of their individual lights helping to make the reason I do this even more clear. 

I was able to attend two separate CMN events in just the past week and see thousands of dollars raised for this worthy cause. First was the Dance Marathon at Boise State University, where the students raised $66,217.80 by dancing for 17 hours straight, and second was the best day of the year, National Pancake Day at IHOP! If you would like to donate to CMN, you can find my personal donation page here."

- Miss Boise 2015, Dani Beckstrom

Dancing Queens Program

All of the contestants in the Miss Idaho Organization select a platform to promote during their year of service. It is there way to get involved in the community by sharing something they are passionate about. Megan Wilson, Miss Southwestern Idaho, has a platform of At-Risk Prevention: Helping Girls Reach Their Full Potential. Every year she hosts a program for young girls in the area called Dancing Queens.  It is a self-awareness program for preteen girls where topics like self-esteem, peer pressure, personal wellness, and goal setting are discussed while learning the art of Polynesian dance. Dancing Queens goes throughout the month of April and for their big final event the Dancing Queen girls get to perform and display a booth at Kids Fun Fest May 2. Megan says, "My best memory is from my first season of DQ when my quietest girl wrote me a letter saying I helped her get out of her shell. I get to play big sister to girls from various backgrounds and situations." You can register with Megan by calling 369-3854 or emailing meganwilson1@u.boisestate.edu.

Discover STEM Day at Boise State

A few weeks ago Laura Hampikian, Miss Capital City, was able to volunteer at the Discover STEM Day at Boise State. "I volunteered with the Psychology Department, where I’m currently a graduate student in their Family Studies Certificate program. We taught kids and adults about conservation tasks. According to Wikipedia: “Conservation refers to a logical thinking ability which, according to the psychologist Jean Piaget, is present in children during the preoperational stage of their development at ages 4–5, but develops in the concrete operational stage at ages 7–11. Conservation refers to the ability to determine that a certain quantity will remain the same despite adjustment of the container, shape, or apparent size." She loved the interested so many young kids had in STEM and meeting the kids who outsmarted some of the tasks. Among all the kids that were there that day she made "a billion" friends. She said, "I think it’s an important feature of gender equality to encourage women and girls to go into STEM careers. I was thrilled to see so many of both young women and men interested in science, technology, engineering, and math!"