COVER STORY

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Left: Clay introduces herself to the audience at the start of the Miss Ouachita Baptist University Scholarship Pageant. Middle: Clay performs an animated opera piece for the talent round of competition. Right: Former Miss OBU Caroline Derby crowns Clay as the new Miss OBU. Clay looks forward to sharing her social impact initiative, Confidence Blueprint, with young people across Arkansas. (photos by Levi Dade)

Clay wins Miss OBU title, looks to Miss Ark.

BY RACHEL DUNNAM

Staff Writer

Kaelin Clay, a freshman communications and music industry major from Idabel, Okla., was crowned Miss Ouachita Baptist University on Feb. 12. Hosted at Jones Performing Arts Center, the Miss Ouachita Baptist University Scholarship Pageant is a preliminary to the Miss Arkansas Scholarship Competition. While the reality of this achievement is still setting in, Clay is already looking forward to the year ahead.

“The Lord is so good, and I could not be more honored with this dream come true,” Clay said.

Clay is a member of the Women of EEE, Ouachita Singers Concert Choir and College Republicans. She also volunteers with the ElderServe program at the Elrod Center and the Peak Partnership tutoring program.

“I love getting involved however I can on campus. I think that Ouachita has such a sense of community and being able to represent that as Miss OBU, going out into the community and then serving at events here on campus is pretty exciting,” Clay said. “Holding this title gives me the opportunity to be a friendly face on campus and represent what it means to be a Tiger.”

Even before competing in the Miss OBU pageant, Clay had an eventful start to her freshman year participating in clubs and classes, allowing her to bond with new and old friends on campus.

“My freshman year has been incredible,” Clay said. “First semester was a huge transition, but truly for the better. I have grown so much spiritually since coming to Ouachita. Everyday is a reminder that I am exactly where God wants me to be.”

Clay has competed in other pageants in the past, especially within the Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen organization. She will represent Ouachita at the annual Miss Arkansas Scholarship Competition, a preliminary to Miss America held every summer in Little Rock.

“I grew up watching the Miss America competition on TV every year, and I always looked up to the girls competing,” Clay said. “As I grew older and started competing in pageants, their eloquence and boldness inspired me more and more.”

Clay has not only spent years viewing pageants, but is a seasoned competitor herself.

“I’ve competed in pageants for quite a while,” Clay said. “When I was younger, I competed in the National American Miss pageant organization, and as soon as I was old enough to compete in the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen organization, I started participating in local pageants and competed at the state pageant for three years.”

When her name was announced as the new Miss OBU, Clay was shocked to hear this dream come to life.

“Afterwards when it was over and all my family ran up to me, I was overwhelmed with excitement,” Clay said. “It didn’t really sink in that I had won right away. It’s just one of those things that you dream about for so long and when it’s actually reality, it doesn’t feel real. It wasn’t until the Monday or Tuesday after when I actually believed that I was Miss OBU, and now I am starting preparation for Miss Arkansas and it feels all the more real.”

Clay’s older sister, Karigan Clay, also currently attends OBU. For Clay, her close relationship with her sister was an influential part of her college decision.

“My sister Karigan is a junior at OBU, so naturally I had to visit campus,” Clay said. “At first I didn’t want to go to Ouachita, solely for the fact that I didn’t want to be the girl that followed her sister. But when I stepped foot on campus, I realized that this was exactly where God was calling me to be. I felt a sense of warmth and sincerity that Ouachita brought, and I knew I had to make this place home.”

Clay is looking forward to the next year as she represents Ouachita with her social impact initiative, Confidence Blueprint. Confidence Blueprint focuses on using and promoting a four-prong system to form a foundation for a confident life. When Clay was younger, she let the words of her classmates define the way she viewed herself, and her confidence was at an all-time low.

“Being crowned Miss OBU has given me the opportunity to continue to share my story on the next level and be the role model I needed when I was in that place,” Clay said. “Taking my mission to the Miss Arkansas stage while representing the best university in my book is a dream come true.”

With the new opportunity to promote Confidence Blueprint, Clay can continue to be a light in the lives of young students.

“There’s no other path I would want to take to get to the Miss America stage than this one,” Clay said. “I want to be the role model for younger girls watching just like the previous Miss Americas were for me.”