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04/08/2021
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Ken de la Bastide
The Herald Bulletin
Aug 4, 2021
ANDERSON — When A’Niyah Birdsong decided to enter the Miss Indiana USA pageant, she believed there were signs in her favor.
Birdsong, 26, had finished as second runner-up in 2019 and immediately decided to try again for the title.
When submitting her application for the 2021 Miss Indiana, Birdsong thought there were two good omens.
“Having the pageant in Anderson I took as a sign,” she said with a bright smile. “When I heard it was at the Paramount Theatre, I had to do it.”
Birdsong graduated from Anderson Preparatory Academy in 2017 and received a $60,000 scholarship to attend Indiana University.
She was the salutatorian at APA and finished high school with the highest number of college credits. She played varsity basketball and volleyball and was named MVP of the volleyball squad.
Birdsong received her degrees from IU in biology and the business of life sciences. She works for Eli Lilly in Indianapolis.
While attending IU, she competed in her first pageant, winning the title of Miss IU.
“I thought entering to be Miss IU would be a great way to bring awareness to my STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) platform,” she said. “I wanted to show people you didn’t need to be 100% qualified to start a new venture.
“I decided to do the pageant just three weeks before it started,” Birdsong related with a laugh. “My girlfriends encouraged me to enter.”
As Miss IU, she prequalified for the Miss Indiana contest, which is part of the Miss America pageant.
In the Miss Indiana USA pageant in 2019, she was named second runner-up.
“We’re coming back,” Birdsong said right after the 2019 results.
Entering Miss Indiana USA, Birdsong said, gave her the idea she could be Miss Indiana and capture the title for her hometown.
“There was a lot of preparation,” Birdsong said. “I was used to public speaking. But I did interview prep, was coached in walking, worked with a local photographer to build my brand and worked with a trainer.”
Before being named Miss Indiana USA, Birdsong was selected by the other contestants as the person they would want to see win the title if they didn’t.
“That meant a lot to me. I felt like a winner in that moment,” she said. “Having my peers vote for me validated everything I was doing, the impact I had on others.”
Birdsong made the cut to be in the top 15 and then the top 10.
“The final five is where I wanted to be,” she said after finishing there in 2019.
“I really wanted to win. I just entered the final round with the mentality of just being myself.”
During the final it started to get real for Birdsong that she might be named Miss Indiana USA, which was emotional for all the contenders.
“When they called the second runner-up, I thought to myself: ‘This could actually happen.’ I really dreamed about this.”
Birdsong said after a week, the results are starting to sink in because of all the support she’s gotten on social media.
“It was a blank,” her mother, Deveta Whigham, said of her daughter winning the title.
“Thought I would pass out,” her father, Shaun Birdsong, related. “I was really going to get up and go outside when she made the top five. I don’t like to lose.”
Whigham said she was very surprised when her daughter entered Miss IU.
“She’s always been a doll baby,” she said, “but had never entered pageants. She was competing against people who have been training forever.”
Shaun Birdsong said he wasn’t surprised his daughter planned to go back for Miss Indiana USA.
As can be expected, there is a lot of support within the city of Anderson for A’Niyah.
“I can’t go to the gas station without someone making a comment on it,” she said. “I feel like a celebrity.”
Shaun Birdsong said people want to congratulate you, but they don’t know what to say.
Her brother Tre works at Amazon and has two children, Zayne, 2, and Ava, 4½ months.
A’Niyah said her project as Miss Indiana USA will be to help women be powerful in all they do.
Her grandmother, Flora Birdsong, is still pretty high and having a good time.
A’Niya said her grandfather, Kerry Whigham, who died in 2020, was considered her biggest fan.
“He was super excited,” she said. “He always carried a picture of me as Miss IU.”
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