Olivia P. Tucker
Times Reporter
A former Miss Scott County, Jillian Smith will compete in the title of Miss Indiana at the Miss Indiana America Pageant on April 6 at South Bend.
Smith was Miss Scott County in 2021 and has competed at the Indiana State Fair Pageant and Miss Madison Regatta. She said that she did both of those pageants for the fun of it even though she wasn’t going to win. But her love for pageants remained even with her being a college student taking priority over competing.
Smith currently holds the title of Miss Southern Indiana, an opportunity that was presented to her by another former Miss Scott County Carrie Jones.
“I was really hesitant at first,” said Smith, “I’m just really into my studies, that’s my main goal is to get my degree but I was like, you know I haven’t really done anything for myself, I kind of just always on the books working out. I want to do something for myself, I haven’t been involved since high school.”
Smith is currently attending Indiana University where she is studying elementary education with a double minor in child adolescent and mental health counseling. She currently is a recipient of the Next Generation Hoosiers Educators Scholarship.
She said she is looking forward to competing for the title of Miss Indiana because she met a lot of interesting people through the pageant organization.
“This is such a great sisterhood and I’ve met so many amazing ladies through this pageant already,” Smith said.
Smith also wants to use her title of Miss Southern Indiana to be able to promote that mental health holds equal importance to physical well-being. She said that with the help of her Instagram profile be able to accomplish that goal.
“Growing up for me, I really struggled with anxiety and depression throughout school,” said Smith, “and a lot of teachers I felt didn’t know what to do with me or belittled my feelings because I wasn’t an adult. They were like, ‘Oh you’re just a kid, it doesn’t really matter’, when it did matter to me. I really had these big emotions that I didn’t know how to handle and so now I just really like to be the person that I needed when I was younger and be that person for all communities and all ages.”
Smith also said the opportunity to compete in the pageant, even though she is nervous is allowing her to break her own anxiety barriers as a way to express herself and get herself out of her comfort zone.
“Being Miss Scott County it really just made me feel like myself and made me feel I can express myself in a way that feels positive to me,” said Smith, “and it just gave me that light and gave me that confidence boost that I needed. And so through Miss Scott County, I feel that if didn’t have that opportunity to run for that title, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”