The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Jalynn Neiderman Competes In A National Pageant

By: Grace Lessen, The Quill

Jalynn Neiderman of La Harpe has just recently competed in the "Miss United States Agriculture" Pageant in Florida.

Being a close friend of Jalynn, I've been following her process of preparing for this National Pageant.

Jalynn heard about "Miss United States Agriculture' from an ad on Facebook. She said she got involved beccause, "after placing first runner up at Miss Hancock County, I felt like I could do better. I also wanted to be prepared for the 2020 Miss Hancock County Pageant, which is sadly now cancelled.

"I began competing in a couple Miss America Organization pageants and I then decided on an Agriculture based program. I felt that this particular pageant would be the best way to prepare for the county fair pageant.

"It involved public speaking, learning about agriculture, and advocating for agriculture".

Since this was such a large scale pageant, I wondered what kind of steps she took to prepare for it.

"I had to write and memorize a one minute and thirty second introduction about myself and my state, practice walking, answering interview questions, and raise a $500 program book fee.

"To help raise that money I directed the "Little Miss Sweet Corn' Pageant in March. I was also sponsored by the Johnson Agency."

COVID-19 changed a lot of plans and Miss United States Agriculture was no exception, I asked Jalynn how her pageant was affected.

"Many girls dropped out of the competition due to COVID-19. It was sad because I missed out on meeting a lot of my sister queens."

The state of Florida fully reopened on May 15th, meaning, Miss United States Agriculture was still on, and Jalynn was able to travel.

That doesn't mean there weren't any challenges that Jalynn faced!

"Traveling in a mask was rough. Very hot! But our flight attendants tried to make sure everyone was as comfortable as possible". Jalynn said.

Going from a local county pageant to a national pageant is a big change! Neiderman says,

"Competing at the national level...I had no idea what I was stepping into, or who I was going against. I had never met any of these girls before. There is also no "practice" or "dress rehearsal" or even a set walking pattern. So you better know exactly what to do and how to do it because you have one chance to get it right".

Jalynn Neiderman did very well for herself placing 2nd runner up at the national level. I asked Jalynn how it feels to have that big of an accomplishment.

"It feels good. I am so proud of how I did. I told a girl in the teen division who also placed runner up that sometimes it is better to just place runner up than win. Because you know you did well but now you're going to push yourself to work harder".

Jalynn is going to do just that, on August 15th, Neiderman is traveling to Decatur to compete in the "Miss Illinois Festival' pageant.

Jalynn also hopes to continue putting on more pageants in hopes to raise money for local charities. Her community is very proud of her.