Her continued relationship with her father has led to her creating a love letters program, which provides jails with stationery so prisoners can continue to communicate with their families, mending the relationship between parent and child.īranch is majoring in integrated marketing communications at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. “He sees a bright future for me and doesn’t want me to settle. “He has told me to strive to be successful,” she said. “There is no reason for these children to be any less successful than their peers,” she said.īranch’s father remains one of her biggest supporters. Instead of dwelling on the challenges her family has faced, Branch has turned it into her purpose, providing resources for children that she did not have when she was younger. By talking about it, we can take down the gate of judgment.” “It’s perfectly fine to share and embrace the circumstances, because it’s part of who we are and it’s going to shape you. “It’s an underdiscussed topic and I hope to bring light to it by sharing my story so others can see that I’m doing something positive,” she said. She wants to influence people’s lives by speaking at schools, churches, civic organizations and jails. “There’s emotional distress, financial instability and so many questions about why a parent isn’t there.”
“Being a child with an incarcerated parent takes a negative toll, with the stigmas that surround it,” she said. Her father has been in prison since she was 10. Her new title also gives her a louder voice to discuss her platform “Finding Your Way: Empowering Children of Incarcerated Parents.”īranch is one of those children. “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around how my dream is now a reality.” “It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life,” Branch said. The feeling of getting to represent her home state on the Miss America stage is indescribable, she said. “It felt like an eternity before the winner’s name was called, but in reality when I watched it over again, it was only about three seconds,” Branch said. “We were all there to win, and I knew it would be fine, no matter what the results.”īranch said time seemed to stand still before that moment. “When the last three of us finalists were standing there, there was a calmness that came over me,” she said. On the night of June 23 in Vicksburg, Branch’s name was called and her dream became a reality. “I knew I wanted to return and continue to get better until I won, but I just never expected it to happen so soon,” she said.
“I’m the only one in my family that participates in these competitions and my family was not really connected to the pageant world, so at first I didn’t know how to make that happen,” she said.Īfter winning her local pageant and competing on the Miss Mississippi stage for the first time in 2016, the Booneville native was hooked. – Last month, Asya Branch was just a young woman with dedication and a dream.īranch, a rising junior at the University of Mississippi, competed in beauty revues during her teenage years, but wanted to try her luck in the Miss Mississippi scholarship pageant.
Photo by Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post
Miss Tupelo, Asya Branch, reacts to being crowned Miss Mississippi 2018 during the Miss Mississippi Pageant.