What a cool story this is...and talk about being diverse. Maura Spence Carroll comes from a military family. Her grandfather served in the United States Air Force back in the day and this young woman always had a couple of different things she wanted to accomplish. She wanted to honor her late grandfather (whom she lived with for a while as a child) and she always dreamt of walking across a stage wearing a crown and as of now, she's managed to accomplish both feats...at the same time!

When Maura turned 18, she became a soldier serving her country when she joined the 4th Infantry Division based at Fort Carson as Spc. Spence Carroll.

Nobody, not even her neighbor in the barracks knew what she was trying to do until she was crowned Miss Colorado back in June.

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This is such a cool dynamic because I know when I think of two different ends of the spectrum of things to do and be, these two things fall on the complete opposite ends...but that just goes to show you how much (or little) I know.

Maura has shown an incredible amount of discipline and dedication and I admire her so much from getting ready to be a solider with basic training and everything that goes into preparing for a pageant, it kinda puts my everyday "to do" list into perspective a little bit.

She's very inspiring in more ways than one and had this to say about her unique situation...

"I understand I’m in a unique position, but that doesn’t mean everyone can’t do it. It’s possible. It takes support. It takes a lot of hard work,” she said. "The Army is evolving, and it’s not full of the cookie-cutter image we have of a soldier. It’s full of people like me. Anyone can be a soldier. Anyone can be a title holder in the Miss America organization. All it takes is that support and that hard work and never letting go of what you want."

 

She also plans to use her platform to discuss things like mental health awareness for veterans and soldiers currently serving our country.

 

Well done Maura and congratulations!

 

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