March 2012.

The past several weeks have been filled with intense preparation for Miss USA, photo shoots and very memorable appearances!


For one of my first appearances in March, I attended the 19th annual Happy Helpers for the Homeless party. This great organization was started by Amber Coffman Miss Maryland Teen USA 2008.


The very next week I traveled to New York City to shoot with legendary photographer Fadil Berisha! It was such a great experience and his team was the best.







(Dinner at Catch in NYC)


The next weekend Stephanie Chervenkov, Miss Maryland Teen USA and I attended an event for The John's Hopkins Children Center at Port Discovery in Baltimore. Right after we both spoke at an MG Model Agency event about our life stories and the doors that have opened as a result of our competing in the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA systems.















The next day we were a part of the Baltimore St. Patrick's Day Parade. This was one of my favorite events. I got to spend the whole day with Stephanie representing our great state!











Next stop was the Daffodil and Diamond Lunch Gala at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda. Stephanie and I were a part of the Anne Fontaine Fashion Show!










Next up was the Casey Cares Foundation Gala in Baltimore. It was such a great event and for such a good cause. The theme was 1920s attire!





March ended with a photo shoot by Yvonne Taylor. The dresses and gowns were from Signature, a gown store right in Georgetown DC! Makeup was by John Paul Hamilton, hair by Jason Paul of Nival Salon in DC and styling was by Michael Evans.












I am looking forward to April!! One month closer to competing on the Miss USA stage! Till then xo:)

Stephanie Chervenkov.

On the night of October 30, 2011, Stephanie and I were crowned Miss Maryland Teen USA and Miss Maryland USA. Twas the night I gained a new sister!





(Stephanie's little brother)




Stephanie will be competing in Miss Teen USA this July and I will be competing for Miss USA hosted by Giuliana Rancic and Andy Cohen, June 3, 2012 live from Las Vegas on NBC. We are busy prepping and motivating each other as our national competitions near!










We have gone to so many events in the almost 6 months we have been titleholders and below are some of the memories we've shared together. Cannot wait to see what the next couple of months hold for us.

Love you Stephanie!

Sports Illustrated.

‎41 years ago today, my father landed the cover of Sports Illustrated (and back then it was not as easy as it is today!). Always focused on science and school, he never played sports in high school or college and only began running in his late 20s after being admitted/graduating the first African American to go to Duke University Medical School, integrating the University as a whole (pretty late for any athlete to begin competing in sport).

(35 years after my father made the cover, I was featured in Sports Illustrated Magazine when I played volleyball for UCLA. I became a 2 time NCAA All American for the Bruins. After UCLA, I was invited to play professional volleyball overseas in Puerto Rico and to train for the 2008 Olympic Games in Colorado Springs).











He decided to start running after watching a track meet on tv and joked with a friend that he could run faster than any of the competitors. He would train on hospital stairs late at night on his breaks while working in the Emergency room. Almost 70, to this day he still works out everyday before or after long shifts at the hospital....he often drags me along with him...

(My dad working out today. He always wears his hospital scrubs! I can count on one hand the amount of times I have ever seen my dad in real clothes)






World famous for wearing yellow swim trunks and suspenders when he ran, he ended up breaking the record for the 100yrd dash which he still and will forever hold as the race was soon after changed to the 100meter dash. He ran the race in 9 seconds flat. In the same year he won a U.S. Public Health Service award for co-authoring a paper entitled "The Inhibiting of DNA and RNA Synthesis by Dau-norubicin and Adriamycin in 1-1210 Mouse Leukemia".

(Sarasota Herald Tribune. Feb 5, 1971)

In the 1980s, he moved with my mom to rural South Africa where he spent 8years providing pro bono medical care to over 500,000 refugees and native people. My family's work continued on even after we moved back to the states. I co-founded a 501 (c) (3) international non profit organization, The Meriwether Foundation, about 6 years ago based on the selfless work my parents have contributed to the world. Please consider donating to The Meriwether Foundation! (www.MeriwetherFoundation.org)

(My father in Zimbabwe with Medical School students The Meriwether Foundation sponsors)