Quick Update

I just wanted to type up a quick update. I have been working very hard to upload my appearance from The Morning Blend, but this website is just not cooperating. I am reading over different "how to upload video" sites, so hopefully it will all work very soon. You may have noticed that my picture changed on the website. The new picture is the headshot I have selected to be in the national program book. The photos were taken courtesy of my brother-in-law. If you think these pictures are great, you can see some of his other work at http://www.troyefox.com/. I've included two of the other photos from the shoot on the side of this post.

I had my 20th birthday on the 19th of March. My parents took me to Chicago where a lot of shopping occurred. It was a very fun time. While there I looked at different fabrics, and decided that my evening gown will be sapphire blue. Also I received the shortened version of the song I selected for talent. I am not going to announce which song I selected quite yet, but I will say it is a good combination of being
musically challenging as well as very very funny.

I was contacted by The Waukesha Freeman, and they will be doing a story on me under their "Everyone Has a Story" column. It will be in the paper in the next few weeks. I will post the specific date it is expected to print as well as a link as soon as I know more information.

On April 12th-13th the Wisconsin National Teenager pageant is being held at MSOE. I am very excited to find out who my sister queens will be! Another very exciting part of this pageant is that I am designing the set and helping coordinate the actual pageant program for my theatre practicum class. The theme is Hollywood red carpet/night at the "ANTSO" awards kind of feel. I wonder where I got that idea from? At the end of April I am flying out to Seattle for the Washington National Teenager competition. I can't wait for another state ANTSO National Miss to be crowned! This way I'll know someone right away when I get to nationals. Following the pageant I am attending Dale Smith Thomas's Boot Camp for Beauty Queens Mini-Camp. I have always wanted to attend one of her boot camps! Also, while in Seattle I will be visiting the first ever Starbucks. How can you not visit the first ever Starbucks? It is practically a national treasure!

I know I previously posted about being selected for Mortar Board. I am now running for the position of Director of Communications for Mortar Board. The Director of Communications makes sure the website stays updated, and is also the PR person for Mortar Board community service projects. I also found out last week that I was selected for The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Phi Kappa Phi is the oldest and most selective honor society in the country.

New web address...

I am slowly but surely figuring this whole blog thing out. As you may have realized the new blog web address is http://www.samanthajankins.com/. It took a lot longer to switch over web addresses than I had expected. I am not very website savvy. I do like this format for my website rather than the traditional website. Writing is what I intend to go to grad school for, so a blog is a better representation of who I am. I found out this week that I was accepted into Mortar Board Honor Society. Mortar Board only accepts 50 students out of a senior class of near 7,000. In the next few days I will be adding more components to the website such as a slide show of my different appearances as well as the video for my segment on The Morning Blend. That way I can limit the amount of links I post and not turn my blog into a web scavenger hunt.

Hello, hello!

I am so very excited to now have a blog to update everyone on my happenings as Miss Wisconsin ANTSO National Miss. Haven't heard of the ANTSO program? Well I'll tell you a bit about it. America’s National Teenager Scholarship Pageant was founded in 1970 to recognize outstanding young women throughout the country and help them reach their educational goals. Scholarships are awarded to the winners on both the state and national levels based on scholastic achievement, community involvement, leadership qualities and communication skills. The pageant system has awarded more than $125 million in tuition, grants and cash scholarships in its 38-year existence. The program continually awards nearly $5 million annually at the state and national level. This year they started a "Miss" program, and I am the first for Wisconsin. I have in previous years been the Jr. Teen (03') and Sr. Teen (06'). I feel so incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to be Miss for the state of Wisconsin as I believe in everything this program stands for.

There have been some incredible things occurring in my life since starting my reign. I feel like this a catch up post as to what has been going on. In November I was able to walk the red carpet for the premiere of "Enchanted" through the kindness of Idina Menzel. She is one of the kindest people I have ever met! I'll try to get a few pictures up once I figure this whole blog out.
I'll try to keep taking pictures at different events to put up here. I'm pretty much horrible at making sure I have a camera with me. I took literally thousands of pictures while in middle school and high school. It was so easy with one of those disposable cameras. Now I have a grown up camera and almost no pictures from my college years to go along with it.

Now I'm to the point in the post where I have links to place in. My first media appearance was on the PageantCast. I had so much fun recording this. Tim Kretschmann even showed me how to set up one of these blogs. I definitely recommend checking the podcast out at http://www.pageantcast.com/. My interview is episode 106. I recently had the opportunity to be on the Morning Blend to discuss my project "Blue Jeans for Healthy Genes" for the Immune Deficiency Foundation and my reign as Wisconsin's ANTSO National Miss. To view this interview go to http://themorningblend.com/NewsArticle/tabid/1474/xmid/18658/Default.aspx.

A photo of Patrick Dempsey and I from the "Enchanted" premiere can be found in the Spring 2008 issue of Pageantry Magazine. To view the on-line version of the magazine, go to http://www.pageantrymag.com/. The photo of me is under the "Celebrity Spotlight" section. This same photo is also on the new website http://www.mypageanttips.com/. Once there, click on the media portion of the page. Last but not least, I was nominated for Milwaukee's Woman of the Year. I am very honored to be nominated, and am really hoping to make it into the top ten. The woman named Milwaukee's Woman of the Year will receive a donation to her favorite charity. My charity of choice is the Immune Deficiency Foundation. To vote for me go to http://www.milwaukeewoy.com/NomineeDetail.asp?s={6EB33B87-B7F4-43CD-868A-5F97CF054AB5}&ID=2987. My apologies for the rattling off of websites. Now that I have established a blog, I will make sure to provide frequent updates instead of long lengthy posts.

Upcoming Exciting News:

*I was asked by Children's Hospital of Wisconsin to take part in their Miracle Marathon on WKLH from May 21st-23rd.

*The auctioning off of the decorated jeans for "Blue Jeans for Healthy Genes" is set to take place very soon!

*I am currently in the process of collecting prom dresses for the "Princess for Prom" program through the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee.

*I was contacted by the Immune Deficiency Foundation to be interviewed for their IDF Advocate magazine.

*A certain very well known magazine has expressed interest in conducting an interview with me about living a successful life with a chronic illness as well as being Miss Wisconsin ANTSO National Miss. More details once things are finalized.