Outgoing Miss America: We are more alike than different
ATLANTIC CITY: Asked about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during her onstage interview at last year’s Miss America pageant, Savvy Shields turned heads on the judge’s panel and across the country by offering some advice to both political parties: Stop arguing and start compromising.
It was that response that may have put her over the top to become Miss America 2017.
Now, with her reign to end in just about a week, the former Miss Arkansas says the nation is not as divided as it may seem.
“We are a lot more similar than we think we are,” she told The Associated Press in one of her final interviews before her successor is crowned Sept. 10.
Shields says she is been in a different state every 48 hours for the past 12 months, logging thousands of airline miles and living out of suitcases as she crisscrosses the country, meeting people from all walks of life.
“I have seen world-changers and philanthropists and charities and ordinary people who are all seeking the same goal,” she said, which is making a difference in whatever way they can. “It is been very encouraging to me to see that.”
Riding to the airport for a flight that would bring her back to Atlantic City, Shields reflected on her year as Miss America.
“It is been nonstop,” she said. “It is been a whirlwind.”
One of the biggest surprises of being Miss America?
“I always thought coffee would hold things together and keep me caffeinated,” she joked. “I did not realize it wears off.”
There were surprising moments like meeting Baby Savvy, a young girl in North Dakota whose parents named her after the new Miss America.