Miss North Dakota

When asked what makes her excited about her work, this is how Reyna Bergstrom Asheim, a Fargo-native, Oak Grove graduate, and Concordia College alum, responded. You might more readily recognize her as 2021’s Miss North Dakota, the position which has all but consumed the majority of her last year. Before taking on this role, Reyna, a Communication major and Religion minor, returned to her alma mater as a Content Specialist. In this role, she served many functions within the digital media space, including writing stories for the Concordia College website and magazine and managing Concordia’s social media accounts. It was in this position that Reyna grew her love and passion for digital media, which would further impact her platform within her Miss North Dakota role.

While at Concordia and congruently assuming the role of Miss North Dakota, Reyna decided it was an opportune time to take on her Miss North Dakota roles full-time. “I knew I would regret it if I didn’t,” Reyna stated as she reminisced on her decision to take a step back from her job. In describing the shift, Reyna said, “It’s hard in those seasons of transitions. It’s difficult not to question whether you’re doing the right thing.”

This was fueled in part by the fact that not many people know Miss North Dakota can pursue the position full-time: “People were shocked to learn that. Like, wait, you do that full time?” she added.

While an entirely freelance role, Reyna spent a great deal of her year doing school tours across the State of North Dakota, presenting on social media literacy and balancing technology use in everyday life. When she was not at school tours, Reyna utilized her platform as an opportunity to connect with and empower others in the digital space. Ultimately, Reyna describes her background in communication studies as a driving force for her life and work.

Reyna lamented the importance of giving back to the digital world in a positive way while still maintaining personal boundaries, ensuring that media isn’t taking away from in-person interactions. “It’s a love-hate relationship,” Reyna described about her personal relationship with social media. Nonetheless, Reyna hopes that her professional career works towards helping others recognize the importance of social media, especially as it pertains to media use and media literacy. Reyna currently serves as a Senior Marketing Specialist at Sanford on the Women, Children, & Primary Care marketing team. In the future, Reyna aspires to seek a higher education degree in hopes of furthering her expertise in digital media and communication. [ aw ]

In a world where communication is increasingly digital, Reyna finds the importance of communication even greater.