In the competition’s 100-year history, the newly elected Miss America has made history by becoming the first Korean American and the first Alaskan to hold the title.
“I never could have dreamed in a million years that I would be Miss America, never alone Miss Alaska,” Emma Broyles said in a Zoom chat with The Associated Press on Friday from Connecticut, where she had won the competition just 12 hours before.
In fact, she was certain they were mistaken. Broyles and Lauren Bradford, Miss Alabama, were the last two competitors, and Broyles said she thought Bradford would make an excellent Miss America.
“Then they said Alaska, and I was like, ‘No way.'” Are you certain? “Do you want to examine that card again?” she asked, before her delight overpowered her and she burst into tears.
Broyles said, “I couldn’t believe it.” “I’m so grateful to everyone back home who has been so supportive of me for so long, and I’m so happy to be able to bring the title of Miss America to Alaska for the first time in history.”
In 1921, a beauty contest in Atlantic City, New Jersey, launched the Miss America program. Broyles, on the other hand, is only the 94th Miss America.
The pageant, which has shifted its focus away from appearances and toward leadership, talent, and communication skills, was canceled last year due to the epidemic, and it was also canceled for several years in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Broyles, 20, said her grandparents arrived in Anchorage around 50 years ago, before her mother was born, from Korea.
“Despite the fact that my mother is half Korean, she was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska,” Broyles explained.
Her mother works as a special education teacher at Anchorage’s Service High School, where Broyles also attended.
Broyles has chosen the Special Olympics as the beneficiary of her social impact project. Brendan, her older brother, has Down syndrome and competes in sporting events with Special Olympics Alaska, in addition to her mother’s role.
“I’ve seen firsthand how Special Olympics affects the families of people with intellectual disability.” And I understand the importance of Special Olympics to our community in Anchorage and Alaska, as well as communities across the country and around the world,” she said.
Broyles said she’s excited to collaborate with Special Olympics to use sports to promote inclusiveness, compassion, and open-mindedness.
“Having this platform to speak about why inclusion is important during a time like this when our country is so divided, and to speak about why it’s important to be compassionate, why it’s important to be empathetic, why it’s important to keep an open mind and to be willing to listen to those who aren’t like you or who may have different opinions than you,” she said.
Broyles’ victory as Miss America isn’t the first time an Alaskan woman has burst through a glass ceiling this year. Lydia Jacoby of Seward, Alaska, won the women’s 100-meter breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympic Games last summer, seemingly out of nowhere. She made history as the first Alaskan to qualify for the Olympics in swimming, let alone win gold.
Broyles stated, “I think it’s extremely fantastic that Alaskan women are representing Alaska, representing our home state so well, and getting the credit I believe we deserve.”
Broyles received slightly over $100,000 in college scholarships in addition to her title, which she describes as a “life-changing sum of money.”
She’s a junior at Arizona State University studying biomedical sciences and voice performance, and she hopes to use the scholarship money to enter medical school.
But, according to the Miss America Organization, she will travel nearly 20,000 miles (32,187 kilometers) per month for the next year as a role model and champion for young women.
Broyles hopes to pursue a career as a dermatologist and return to Alaska to practice her craft.
“There’s just something special about Anchorage,” she explained, “which is why I know I want to spend the rest of my life in Anchorage, despite this brief hiatus.”