Miss Mississippi 2018 shows Booneville roots with pride

By Cristina Carreon Daily Journal Jun 27, 201

Tupelo contestant Asya Branch wins Miss Mississippi crown
Miss Tupelo Asya Branch reacts to being named Miss Mississippi 2018 during the Miss Mississippi Pageant at the Vicksburg Convention Center on Saturday.

TUPELO – Miss Tupelo winner Asya Branch, 20, won the Miss Mississippi 2018 competition this past weekend, and is already making plans for the future.

Branch grew up on the outskirts of Booneville around animals – pigs, chickens, rabbits, horses and dogs.

“People ask me all the time if I would ever move back to Detroit, and I say I’d love to visit, but my heart belongs to the South,” Branch said.

Branch’s family moved from Michigan to Booneville in 2003.

“My dad and his best friend went on a road trip that took them to Tupelo, Mississippi, and he had always wanted a farm and to be able to live on land and have as many animals as he wanted. He brought my mom and they explored a bit and before I knew it, we were moving to Mississippi,” Branch said.

But the Booneville High School graduate was not always the confident, shining girl in the princess dress on television.

Branch’s platform in the competition was empowering children of incarcerated parents, and the competition winner has personal reasons for supporting that cause. Branch’s father has been incarcerated for half of her life.

Branch grew up with self-esteem issues, as a result.

“People can be so judgmental and you just put yourself in a hole where you feel less-than. So I did struggle with self-worth for a while, but I’ve overcome that and I’ve never felt more confident. We all have flaws that make us imperfectly perfect, but you have to accept yourself before anyone else will,” Branch said.

In the face of adversity, Branch has found a way to use her platform to have a local impact. Branch has gone to a few local elementary schools in Lee County to speak to children about her experiences with having an incarcerated parent.

“I told them my father is in prison and they were so shocked and surprised because they automatically assumed my life was perfect, and I had to tell them that no one’s life is perfect,” Branch said. “We all have things that we deal with, so that’s why we have to respect one another. There was one child that was sitting in the corner, she had been quiet the whole day, but I could tell that she was interested.

“At the end of the day, she finally spoke up and she said, ‘I can relate when you say that you don’t know what people go home to, if they go home to their families or not.’”

The girl said she had bounced from house to house because her guardians are incarcerated.

“I could tell she had been holding that in, and that it was a sense of relief that she was finally able to share it, and I can directly relate to that,” Branch said.

Branch originally intended to run in the Miss Mississippi America’s Outstanding Teen competition but missed the age deadline and eventually switched over to compete in the Miss Mississippi competition.

“I placed as an alternate and then I competed in another one and ended up winning, and that was my ticket to Miss Mississippi. I was just getting my feet wet and seeing what the organization was really like and what pageant week consisted of, and I absolutely fell in love with it,” she said.

Branch is currently studying integrated marketing communications with a specialization in public relations. After visiting a children’s hospital on Monday, she said she is considering a job in marketing for a children’s hospital to continue helping kids.

http://www.djournal.com/news/miss-mississippi-shows-booneville-roots-with-pride/article_a2b41d1a-c1f2-56ab-a724-706713727140.html