Miss-Delectable
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Fulton Sun
Jessica Willoughby, Miss Deaf Missouri, had a surprise for students at the Missouri School for the Deaf in Fulton gathered Friday at Ingle Auditorium.
Deaf from birth, Willoughby started her presentation by urging students to strive hard to meet the goals they set and to learn their own definition of determination.
Willoughby then related a story she told as part of her presentation during the Miss Deaf Missouri pageant.
She told the students about a 13-year-old girl whose father told her one day they were going to take a plane ride to the nation's first deaf community at Martha's Vineyard, a small Massachusetts island over the Atlantic Ocean.
The little girl was excited about the trip flying over the ocean to the island in a light plane with only a few people in it.
She was impressed with the blue sky and the blue ocean. But as they were landing something must have gone wrong because the next thing she remembers the plane was wrecked and her father and a friend were not responding when she tried to attract their attention.
The little girl wondered if her father was dead.
The little girl next remembers waking up in a hospital and she was unable to get out of bed. They told her that her father survived the plane crash but he was in another hospital. Finally, they were allowed to communicate with a videophone.
After a month in Massachusetts hospitals, the little girl and her father were allowed to go back home to Missouri.
She had to use a wheelchair for five months. Then she could walk only with the use of crutches for the next three months.
The little girl eventually recovered but still cannot run and has back and ankle pains during cold weather.
When Willoughby told MSD students that the little girl in her story was her, there was a audible collective gasp in the auditorium.
Willoughby had elicited a similar response when she told the story of the little girl as her talent presentation during the Miss Deaf Missouri pageant.
In response to questions from the students, Willoughby said she also plans to make a presentation in Philadelphia next summer when she competes for Miss Deaf America pageant.
Willoughby said she is 17 years old and is a freshman at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., a federally chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. She was born in Kansas and moved to Illinois when she was 11. Then she moved to St. Louis to live with her father when she was 13 years old. She then graduated last May from Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles.
Willoughby said she is pleased that students chose to attend MSD so they can develop relationships with other deaf students.
Willoughby said she had been inspired by Miss Deaf Missouri at age 7.
"I wanted to be just like her someday. I've seen my dream come true, and that is accomplished by determination," Willoughby said.
Willoughby said her next goal after winning Miss Deaf Missouri and Miss Deaf America is to finish college, where she is majoring in theater production and English.
"I see myself eventually in Hollywood writing scripts for movies," Willoughby said.
"When you have an opportunity to participate in an event or join an organization, just say yes," she said. "You will grow and be much better for doing it even if you think you have not much interest in the field. You might be surprised."
Willoughby said her parents, her brothers and sisters, and her grandparents are deaf. They enjoy using videophones because they can use sign language to communicate with each other when they are not together.
She urged MSD students to enter the next Miss Deaf Missouri pageant for 2011 in Independence, Mo.
One of the students interviewed with the help of an interpreter after the presentation said Willoughby's story was heartfelt and touched her. It inspired her to strive to become Miss Deaf Missouri. She said her story proves that deaf people can accomplish anything they want.
Another student said he thought her story about determination was excellent and it was especially meaningful for the students to know that they should strive to meet their goals in life.
Under MSD policy, the names of the underage students at the school cannot be disclosed.
Jessica Willoughby, Miss Deaf Missouri, had a surprise for students at the Missouri School for the Deaf in Fulton gathered Friday at Ingle Auditorium.
Deaf from birth, Willoughby started her presentation by urging students to strive hard to meet the goals they set and to learn their own definition of determination.
Willoughby then related a story she told as part of her presentation during the Miss Deaf Missouri pageant.
She told the students about a 13-year-old girl whose father told her one day they were going to take a plane ride to the nation's first deaf community at Martha's Vineyard, a small Massachusetts island over the Atlantic Ocean.
The little girl was excited about the trip flying over the ocean to the island in a light plane with only a few people in it.
She was impressed with the blue sky and the blue ocean. But as they were landing something must have gone wrong because the next thing she remembers the plane was wrecked and her father and a friend were not responding when she tried to attract their attention.
The little girl wondered if her father was dead.
The little girl next remembers waking up in a hospital and she was unable to get out of bed. They told her that her father survived the plane crash but he was in another hospital. Finally, they were allowed to communicate with a videophone.
After a month in Massachusetts hospitals, the little girl and her father were allowed to go back home to Missouri.
She had to use a wheelchair for five months. Then she could walk only with the use of crutches for the next three months.
The little girl eventually recovered but still cannot run and has back and ankle pains during cold weather.
When Willoughby told MSD students that the little girl in her story was her, there was a audible collective gasp in the auditorium.
Willoughby had elicited a similar response when she told the story of the little girl as her talent presentation during the Miss Deaf Missouri pageant.
In response to questions from the students, Willoughby said she also plans to make a presentation in Philadelphia next summer when she competes for Miss Deaf America pageant.
Willoughby said she is 17 years old and is a freshman at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., a federally chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. She was born in Kansas and moved to Illinois when she was 11. Then she moved to St. Louis to live with her father when she was 13 years old. She then graduated last May from Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles.
Willoughby said she is pleased that students chose to attend MSD so they can develop relationships with other deaf students.
Willoughby said she had been inspired by Miss Deaf Missouri at age 7.
"I wanted to be just like her someday. I've seen my dream come true, and that is accomplished by determination," Willoughby said.
Willoughby said her next goal after winning Miss Deaf Missouri and Miss Deaf America is to finish college, where she is majoring in theater production and English.
"I see myself eventually in Hollywood writing scripts for movies," Willoughby said.
"When you have an opportunity to participate in an event or join an organization, just say yes," she said. "You will grow and be much better for doing it even if you think you have not much interest in the field. You might be surprised."
Willoughby said her parents, her brothers and sisters, and her grandparents are deaf. They enjoy using videophones because they can use sign language to communicate with each other when they are not together.
She urged MSD students to enter the next Miss Deaf Missouri pageant for 2011 in Independence, Mo.
One of the students interviewed with the help of an interpreter after the presentation said Willoughby's story was heartfelt and touched her. It inspired her to strive to become Miss Deaf Missouri. She said her story proves that deaf people can accomplish anything they want.
Another student said he thought her story about determination was excellent and it was especially meaningful for the students to know that they should strive to meet their goals in life.
Under MSD policy, the names of the underage students at the school cannot be disclosed.