“I knew the moment they called my name, my life was changed forever,” said Lauren Nelson, last year’s Miss America winner.

“It is unimaginable that a year has passed since being crowned. My year as Miss America was the best it could ever be.”

She was the second consecutive winner from Oklahoma in back-to-back years. The 21-year-old from Lawton, Oklahoma plans to now get her Master’s Degree in Music Education and become a music teacher.

During the past 365 non-stop days, there have been incredible highlights: She won $156,000 on the celebrity edition of FOX-TV’s Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader and donated all of it to the Children’s Miracle Network and the Miss America Scholarship Fund. Lauren posed as a 14-year-old girl in an internet chat room with America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh, which led to the apprehension of 11 predators! She also helped to raise over $1-million for the 170 CMN hospitals across North America during her year as the official Goodwill Ambassador.

Lauren is one incredibly smart, intelligent and attractive personality, plus a warm human being—the ideal Miss America, in fact! Just hours before she has to relinquish the crown and the title tomorrow night, we chatted one-on-one in the theater’s lobby where the hopefuls were rehearsing one last time:

Robin Leach: Are you sad it is almost at the end?
Lauren Nelson: If I could enter today I’d do it all over again and have as much passion for winning as I did last year. But I can’t re-enter, it’s one time only, so I have to give up the crown and the title. To be honest, I don’t really want to. It is bittersweet. I have had a great year traveling all over the place and meeting a lot of great people, but most of all I am going to miss the Miss America staff and all my friends that I have made, and as soon as you crown the new girl all of the attention goes to her. It leaves me immediately and I will be a “former” instantly, but I talked to the former Miss Americas yesterday and they said, “it is good on our side, too, so welcome to the formers.” It will be a new experience, but I am honestly sad about it all ending.

RL: I remember doing your first interview with you right after you were crowned and then you left immediately for the New York TV shows. You didn’t even stop home in Oklahoma, you just began traveling. Literally for 365 days, you have been a trooper on the road. What does that do to the life of a 20-year-old woman?

LN: It matured me very quickly. You have to be responsible for being up and ready and being prepared for any event whether it is a children’s hospital, a corporate event, or whether it’s going to a school assembly. You also learn flexibility very quickly. The schedule changed minute by minute; you learn to be ready for anything and to go with the flow. If you look at me a year ago to now, I’m a completely different person. I am happy I grew.

RL: Other than having to spend your 21st birthday away from home, what was the worst thing about being on the road for 12 straight months? Fess up, did you ever oversleep?

LN: I did miss a flight once. I had a break and my schedule had said my flight was at 8 a.m. but it was really at 6 a.m. It was a misprint and so I missed the flight. I should have checked the e-ticket, but it all worked out once I got where I was going. It was the only hiccup in 365 days! Though, for the third time, the airlines lost my luggage when I was coming here for the new pageant! For as many flights as I have gone on, I have only had delayed luggage three times, so that’s not bad.

RL: You keep your crown in a separate brown box that you carry with you at all times. Is that never allowed to leave your sight like the president’s red button box?

LN: Probably not, but I have checked it inside my luggage several times, so I’d better make sure that doesn’t get lost. It is even screened through security, and whenever we go to the nation’s capital building it is always given extra screening, even though they automatically know who we are.

RL: What is the most important thing you learned in making the overnight transition from Miss Oklahoma to Miss America?

LN: Being Miss Oklahoma for six months, I knew that was the reason I could come up here and win Miss America. The job of Miss Oklahoma is a lot like the job of Miss America; to travel everyday. We did five school assemblies every five days for two months before I came here and won Miss America. So I think that job is somewhat the same, but I learned flexibility really quickly with the national title. I had a boyfriend when I won and he is still around now. There is no ring on my finger, I am not engaged, but he is still around.

RL: What advice have you given the girls competing this year? And what special message do you have for this year’s Oklahoma candidate, Makenna Smith? It must be extra tough on her, trying to be the third consecutive winner from the same state.

LN: For each girl I hope they have fun, but I remember before each pageant my mom and I would have a conversation and she would say, “you have done the best you could have done,” so I hope these girls do it all to the best of their ability so they can come here with no regrets and be at peace with the outcome and know that God picked Miss America 2008 long before any of us were even here. I hope they have that peace, and whoever is crowned they can be genuinely happy for that girl. She will be given a very special gift. Use it to better the world around you. You will never know the impact you will make by just being yourself. Use this opportunity to do good and give back. You will gain so much in return. For Miss Oklahoma, Makenna Smith, I understand the pressure she is under, but you can let the pressure affect you or you can push through it. She has done a great job as Miss OK and I know she will do well this week. She has just as good of a chance as any of the others, and if she didn’t she wouldn’t be here.

RL: If you were to define Miss America now that TLC has given it a makeover and a new look, who is Miss America 2008?

LN: I like to think that the Miss America’s are very stylish for their time, and I think that TLC is trying to make the show a little more contemporary, but these girls have done a great job going through the reality show, making changes, coming here ready to win, but Miss America is still the same, she is a role model, an American ideal, whether she has red lipstick, has bling or doesn’t, the job is still the same and what you said the traditions are still the same whether you change the outward appearance, it will still be the same.

This morning, Lauren and I will be part of a VIP Planet Hollywood breakfast with all the former Miss Americas for a tribute to Bonnie Sirgany, a legendary Miss America Traveling Companion who is retiring after 18 year-long Miss America tours! Tonight I’ll emcee the black-tie “Evening of Dreams” gala at the Planet Hollywood resort to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network and the Miss America Scholarship Fund. In addition to Lauren singing the National Anthem at the $1,000-a-plate red carpet affair with Mayor Oscar Goodman, we will present the new “popera” tenor sensations, Destino in a live concert. Congrats to Lauren’s dad, by the way, for a $4,000 casino win while here.

The American Legion is sponsoring 50 members of the National Guard to attend Miss America Live! Tomorrow, several of these soldiers served alongside Miss Utah, Jill Stevens, in Afghanistan and are showing her their support as she competes for the coveted crown. Among those attending will be National Vice Commander Peggy Dettori and Utah State Commander Gary Schwartz.

In addition, Miss Connecticut Dana Elaine Daunis was named last night’s (THURS) preliminary talent winner for her vocal performance “Let Him Fly,” during the third night of competition in 2008 Miss America Live! at the Planet Hollywood Resort. Dana received a $2,000 scholarship. Also in the spotlight was Miss Texas Molly Hazlett, who was the preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness winner in a black Winnwear swimsuit. Molly received a $1,000 scholarship.

Expect to see some of the three nights of preliminary winners in the final 15 at Saturday night’s live telecast.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 10:31 am and is filed under Misc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.