Miss Mississippi overcomes hardship
Miss Mississippi 2018, Asya Branch, stared at herself in the mirror with her crown on for a few minutes before she went to bed on June 23..
Like so many Miss Mississippis before her, she said it was hard to believe the whole thing was real. While she is confident in herself and her platform, passionate about what the Miss America Organization does for young women, and had dreamed about being part of the Miss America competition ... well, it was still just so surreal.
“Of course this is a dream, you know, but when it’s actually happened, it’s so hard to let it all soak in,” the former Miss Tupelo said.
In retrospect, it seemed almost prophetic that the Ole Miss broadcast journalism student performed Whitney Houston’s “One Moment in Time” in the talent competition, for multiple reasons. On her Miss Mississippi profile page, the question was asked: “Describe one defining moment in your own life, other than winning your local title.”
“One defining moment for me was one that was only seen by me in one of my nightly devotions,” Branch stated on the page. “I had become overwhelmed, discouraged, and had began to give up when I had a personal, spiritual encounter with God where He spoke to me and let me know he was still working on me, had incredible plans for my life and I could not give up.”
She also said on the profile page that her “secret dream” is one day “to compose a chart-topping song with a powerful meaning that would impact the lives of many.”
And when her name was called on June 23?
“I have never felt anything like that before. I mean, my knees got weak and my heart rate increased,” she said. “Everyone always wants to hear their name be called, but when it’s called, it’s an indescribable feeling. I am so overjoyed and just thrilled and thankful.”
Branch’s family moved to Booneville from Michigan in 2003, she said. She grew up in a home that taught her faith and where she could be in the spotlight she already loved. Her extended family is still in Michigan, she said, and she has two very different dog children of her own: a Chihuahua named Jonas and a Cane Corso — a breed that can get as big as 99 pounds — named Chance.
Branch has been competing in pageants for only three years. Her first goal was the Miss Mississippi Outstanding Teen Pageant, but she found out she’d missed the age deadline by a slight margin. So she gritted her teeth and decided to move up a step.
She placed in her first local pageant and won her second, and her first year competing she found herself in the Miss Mississippi Pageant and loved it.
“I was like, ‘This is what I want to do,’ ” she said.
Hardship brings inspiration
Things haven’t always come easily for Branch, though the hard parts of the journey have built who she is and given her a platform — Empowering Children of Incarcerated Parents — that can help children growing up in the same situation she did and bring them resources she didn’t have.
“My father’s been incarcerated half of my life, and it was tough, extremely tough. Going through school, being judged. Society wants to judge the children of incarcerated parents, it’s shameful, it’s blameful, ‘Oh look what they did ...,’ ” she said. “But it’s out of my control. I didn’t do it, I didn’t ask for this, and I prayed so hard, ‘God why is this happening?’ ”
As she started on the winding journey that led her to being crowned Miss Mississippi, God showed her.
“I want to empower people all throughout our state. Not just women, but young children, young men, young adults. Just anyone, young or old, I want to leave some sort of impact in their lives,” she said.
The passion to help those children is part of a bigger inspiration that drives Branch, she said. People inspire her. People of all kinds.
“I really really love people. I’ve always been a people person,” she said. “My platform has helped me to meet so many incredible individuals and I’ve heard so many empowering and inspiring stories that I’ve been able to reference in my daily life.
“I know my situation was hard for me and I had to cope through a lot of things, but there are people who have had it way worse and I want to be there for them. I just want to help bring positivity into our world.”
Branch’s mother has been a particular inspiration, she said.
“Every step of this path has been truly incredible and my mom’s been with me through it all,” she said. “She came up to me last night and I could see the joy in her eyes and how proud she was. You can’t please everyone, that’s impossible, but your parents are the first ones, you know, that you want to make proud.”
‘I know he’s proud of me’
When she woke up on June 24, Branch looked at her roommate and said, “I wonder if my dad got to see this?”
She still isn’t sure, as she hasn’t had a chance to speak to him yet. But she’ll have it on DVD for when he’s released so they can relive it together, she said.
“That was one of the biggest things. I wanted him to be there when I make this dream a reality,” she said. “But I know he’s proud of me and he’s my biggest encourager and supporter and motivator ... and he’s so thankful for this organization and everything it’s molded me into.”
Overall, the new Miss Mississippi said she just wants to bring people a message of hope and love.
“It’s cruel out there and people can be harsh and mean and inconsiderate, and I want to spread the light of positivity and uplifting others,” she said. “You know, we can’t rise until we lift someone else.”
Branch assumes the title from Miss Mississippi 2017 Anne Elizabeth Buys and will be competing in the Miss America Pageant, to be aired live on ABC, on Sept. 9 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The three nights of preliminary competition begin Sept. 5.