Rodriguez left her Rapid City, South Dakota home to attend Mount Marty College in Yankton. The junior is majoring in Human Services wishing to ultimately work with veterans who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

Rodriguez’s father Eddie, now a retired police officer, hailed from Texas and was stationed at Elsworth Air Force Base where he met her mom, Tami, from Rapid City.

They had boys Alexis, Adrian, Aris and Asau before Azure was born, who she feels are significant supporters in her life.

During her junior year at Rapid City Central High School, her psychology teacher approached her about an upcoming Miss South Dakota High School America pageant, suggesting it would be a great scholarship opportunity. The pageant has levels for participants at Junior High, High School and Collegiate levels to compete, basing strong consideration on the participant’s community service involvement. Though Rodriguez didn’t win the pageant her junior year, she amped up her community service involvement and competed for the collegiate level her senior year of high school.

Reflecting back on her early pageant entrances she states, “That’s really what started me in my community and really helping out. I’ve loved to do that ever since.” The pageant competition included an interview with four judges discussing a biography about academics, future plans, fun facts and community service. The other components were the evening gown competition and fun fashion, where they could dress up in several different outfits, something Rodriquez really had fun with.

Though Rodriguez didn’t take home a title during her second year of competition, she later received a surprise email in 2015, right before college spring break. The director of the Miss South Dakota pageant contacted her and told her that the current Miss Collegiate had to step down. She wanted Rodriguez to fill the Miss South Dakota Collegiate America position so she could take her to the National competition because she had seen her in previous years and knew she was qualified. Rodriguez knew it was an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up.

Rodriguez explained how she didn’t quite fit in with the “beauty queen” image at first. “I was like the biggest tomboy ever. I learned that I actually like to dress up a little.” Not having worn makeup leading up to her first pageant, her common attire was jeans, a t-shirts and hair in a ponytail every day. Her mom had to teach her how to do her make-up.

Her brothers had to adjust to their little sister wearing make-up. She laughs as she tells me how, before she started wearing make-up for the pageants, her brothers would sniff her face to see if she was wearing any.

She laughs, “It’s funny, people used to say to me, ‘You’re never going to be a girly girl,’ and now they say, ‘You used to be a tomboy?’” I agree, it was a little hard to imagine as pretty as she is.

Coming out of her shell was the most challenging part of pageant competition for Rodriguez. “It’s fun to see the progress that I’ve made from my junior year (of high school) until now. The self-confidence that you gain on stage is incredible,” she said, explaining how, at the national competition, there were not only thousands of people watching from the audience but the show was also streamed on-line.

“I think I can do about anything now,” she continues. “I have a way to present myself, I have to do that with my crown and sash at all times.”

Rodriguez has the opportunity to present herself several times a year, speaking out about the pageant’s national platform BRAVE – Building Respect & Values for Everyone, their antibullying campaign.

Rodriguez isn’t done competing yet. She just competed in the World’s Miss South Dakota Tourism pageant on January 2nd, 2016. The director of this pageant contacted her and, knowing that she would be giving up her 2015 Miss SD Collegiate America crown, she asked if Rodriguez would join their circuit.

Within a month she made the decision to try out for the pageant and compete. Fortunately, practicing and preparing for the previous pageants gave her a bit of an edge on the competition and helped her to win the title.

She felt prepared for the pageant, but the defining moment for her came during the contestant introduction. She explained, “For your opening number you have to go on stage, say your name, how old you are and where you are from. I remember saying ‘I am Azure Rodriguez and I am 19 years old and I am from Rapid City,’ and I looked up and saw my brother in the crowd and the look on his face was ‘She can do this’ and I knew I could do anything at that point.’”

Rodriguez uses her pageant titles to get her voice heard.

She has many opportunities to speak out in the public about the platforms most important to her: veteran suicide, veteran homelessness and PTSD. These topics became important to her at a young age as her best friend’s dad served on a deployment and after returning later passed away from a heart attack just before their senior year of high school. Her friend opened up to her about how deployment altered him and she decided that she wanted to help other families going through similar situations.

Because she is so involved around the community and state, she feels that many people are watching her every move. “A big thing that I believe in is kindness,” she explained. She tries to be as kind as she can to everyone because you don’t know who is watching. “I try to treat everyone with the respect that they deserve, even though they might not treat me with that same respect.”

Extremely thankful to her parent’s support in participating in the pageants, she feels that her mom influenced her the most.

“She’s not a pageant girl,” she laughed, “but she gave me things other than beauty: strength, reliability and responsibility.

She taught me how to be a good person overall, and this was a perfect way for her to set me up for life.”

Grass doesn’t grow under this busy girl’s feet. Aside from school and pageants, Rodriguez is president of the Psychology and Human Services Club at Mount Marty College, where they volunteer and perform community services, such as helping with the food banquet and with the school snack pack program.

In her free time, she takes in some baseball. Attending her first game at 3 days old after her mom convinced the doctors on approving her attendance, she’s been a huge fan as long as she can remember. Her favorite college team is the Texas Longhorns, in support of her dad’s hometown. Her favorite team overall is her hometown’s elite team in Rapid City, Post 22. Her brothers all played for Post 22 and one of them has returned to be the pitching coach.

“Not all pageants are beauty pageants,” she explains. “My 2015 (Miss South Dakota Collegiate America) title is based off of community service and that’s what they really care about. There are so many other positives to beauty pageants, I learned to set up contacts, set my own appearances, just how to be your own person and represent your state.”

Rodriquez’s advice to a young girl wishing to partake in a beauty pageant? “You don’t need a crown to be a princess.

This helps you get outside your comfort zone and really push yourself to the ends of your limits, and you never know what you can achieve. I know that dreams really do come true.”