SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. — Her crown and sashes are now in a closet, but that doesn't mean things have slowed down for Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan.
For Scanlan, passing on the crown Saturday to Miss Wisconsin Laura Kaeppeler does mean more freedom, but the Gering native and Scottsbluff High School graduate said it also means more responsibility.
"It's a different feeling," Scanlan said about crowning the new Miss America. "It's a bit of relief; a little bit of everything. There is so much responsibility this year . It's very interesting having things back into my own hands."
Scanlan was back home for a few days but will begin a rigorous schedule of appearances, as she is booked for much of this year.
Like the contestants, Scanlan spent last week in Las Vegas and said she was more nervous than when she competed because she got to know all the contestants and then watched them on stage and knew what they were going through.
Scanlan said she is looking forward to the opportunities that are ahead of her this year and grateful for all that she was able to do and the places she visited during her reign.
Scanlan will return home again in February for three events, beginning with a fundraiser for the Cirrus House assisted living facility in Scottsbluff on Feb. 7 at the Gering Civic Center. On Feb. 26, she will be part of a fundraiser for the Community Christian School in Scottsbluff that will include dinner and an auction. On Feb. 28 at 6 p.m., a dinner in her honor will be held at the Gering Civic Center that will include a performance and a slide show of her experiences as Miss America 2011.
Scanlan will attend Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Va., this fall. She accepted a full scholarship from the college, so she plans to use the scholarship money from the Miss America Pageant to pay for law school. Scanlan said she would like to "speed up" the undergrad process, as she will have three years of law school to attend.
"Seven years of college doesn't sound so great to me," she said. "A lot of the things I'm working on, various partnerships, can continue in the (Washington) D.C. area."
Scanlan said she is looking at the idea of writing a book about her experiences but said a story she would like to tell more than hers is that of her grandparents, who were raised in Croatia but are living in Florida.
Later this month, she will be in Wichita, Kan., for a farm and ranch convention, then on to Connecticut and other appearances. During May, June and July, she will be in Europe, but she hopes to return for the Miss Nebraska Pageant in North Platte.
In her spare time, Scanlan will also be working with Calvin Jones, the composer of the piece she played in the pageant, recording original piano and vocal pieces, with plans to release an album by year's end.
While Scanlan saw many things and met many people during her year as Miss America, one young man left a lasting impression on her. Pointing to a pink and white bracelet, Scanlan told the story of a young man who was a patient at a children's hospital in Germany.
"It was very different, and their resources are not the same as they are here. The hospitals there take in children from Iraq and Afghanistan. This boy from Afghanistan was at the hospital and had been wounded in war-related violence with injuries to both his legs. He had gone through 17 surgeries, was back for another but had heard that I was coming and he made this for me.
"More than anything, it was one of those times where there was nothing that I could do. I was there to somehow help them. I just realized that you can always make a difference in someone's life and you can always serve someone else," Scanlan said.
She said she realized that many of us take the blessings we have for granted and it often takes a gesture like receiving a bracelet from someone with nothing to make you realize what you have.
"I will probably never see him again, but I will always remember him and what he did. I have not taken this bracelet off since July," she said.
Scanlan said one of the most valuable lessons she learned is that it's never too early.
"The time is now. You take opportunities as they come. You become who you want to be today," Scanlan said. "It wasn't the year of being Miss America that changed me, but the people right here, every day of my life, who have taught me the various lessons in my life."
And for young men wondering if Scanlan is dating, the answer is yes. She said she is currently seeing Branden Roper-Hubbert, a young man from Atlanta whom she met at a Florida fundraiser.
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