Dreams really do come true. Pictured are all Collegiate state winners
My “Sister Queens” Jamayka Jackson(Rapid City) and Jordyn Ward(Sioux Falls)
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.”
vBy Julie Eickhoff
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HERVOICEvMARCH/APRIL 2016v17