Sure, I could talk for hours and hours about why you should apply to be a Princess. But why not hear it from the girls themselves? So we will be featuring some of the 2014 500 Festival Princesses over the next few weeks, and you will get the opportunity to hear from them directly about why they decided to apply to be a Princess!
First up, the darling Elizabeth Lecher! Elizabeth recently graduated from Purdue University and is now working for Archer Daniels Midland. She's fantastic and generous and kind-hearted and stunning and just amazing!
Why I applied to be a Princess!
The month of May in Indiana is
electrifying and jam packed with events, starting out with the 500 Festival
Mini Marathon and ending with the greatest racing spectacle in the world.
What an honor to be able to represent the state of Indiana as one of the 500
Festival Princesses. But what does it take to be able to hold such a
title and carry that much responsibility? That was the question I found
myself facing when I sat down to fill out the application to be one of the 33
500 Festival Princesses.
.jpg)
I need to provide some
background information that will help in understanding why I struggled to
decide if I had what it takes to be a 500 Festival Princess. You see, all
of my life I have been what I like to call “fluffy”. Before I go any
further I want to make it clear that there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with
being “fluffy”. I have never let my size keep me from participating in
activities and neither should anyone else. I was in the top 10 of my
class, President of the FFA, 10 year 4-H member, Drum Major, Drama Club member,
and Varsity Letterman in High School. While at Purdue I rode on the
Western Equestrian Team showing horses, was an Ambassador for the College of
Agriculture, worked in our Center for Career Opportunities helping students prepare
for career fairs and finding internships, AND I was Vice President of Standards
for Alpha Omicron Pi. There was nothing I wanted to do that I didn’t
participate in. They sky was truly the limit. 
Looking at today’s society
however; you can understand why I may have questioned if I had what it takes to
be a princess. There is so much pressure on women to maintain a “perfect
image”. What I quickly learned is there is no such thing as a “perfect
image”. Everyone is unique. Everyone is beautiful in their own
way. What was holding me back in showing the world smart, beautiful,
talented, and yes “fluffy” women can be princesses and do a phenomenal job
representing their home town and state? NOTHING! Nothing should have been
holding me back in applying. This was my chance to show young girls that
your size DOES NOT MATTER. If you set your mind to something, you can
achieve it. Love who you are and blast out of your comfort zone and show the
world how truly awesome you can be. It’s your ambition, values, and drive
in life that determine what you can and cannot do. Talented, driven,
intelligent, values based women are exactly the type of women wanted to serve
as ambassadors for the 500 Festival. Being driven off those ideas, my
journey as a 500 Festival Princess began. I filled out the application,
went through the interview rounds, and before I knew it I was wearing a tiara
and sash that would accompany me during an unforgettable experience of a
lifetime. 
Serving as a 500 Festival
Princess allowed me to partake in numerous outreach activities. Princess
for a Day events, carnivals, schools, after school clubs, parades… the list
goes on and on. I was able to experience the 500 Festival and the
Indianapolis 500 in a once in a lifetime kind of way. And to top it all
off, I was able to make 32 friends for a lifetime. We will always share a
bond being in the same Princess Class. Am I glad I stepped out of my
comfort zone and applied to be a 500 Festival Princess? Without a single
doubt.
No comments:
Post a Comment