Happy New Year from Miss Ludington Area 2020

Miss Ludington Area 2020 Madelyn Shamel

Happy New Year from Miss Ludington Area 2020

By Madelyn Shamel

Happy New Year! It is your Miss Ludington Area here, Madelyn Shamel. I am so excited to start this new year of service in our community. I thought now would be a good time to give you all a little closer inside to who I am, what I’ve been up to since being crowned, and where I want the rest of my year as MLA to go. So let’s get started…

Most of you probably just know me as Miss Ludington Area 2020, but there is a lot more to say than just that. For starters, I just finished up my first semester at Calvin University. My first semester on campus included lots of late nights studying, new friends, sporting events, and so many new memories that I will always cherish. I love my new home away from home and couldn’t be happier with my decision to further my education at Calvin. I am studying finance with a  minor in accounting and I am already looking forward to starting a career in this field. I will be able to start that career a little sooner then I had planned because of the dual enrollment courses I had access to in high school. If I could give any advice to current high school students it would be to take advantage of these free West Shore Community College classes. I did, and now I will be saving thousands of dollars by graduating a whole year early! It is a rare opportunity that the young people of this area are blessed with and we should not just let this pass by. I know that by taking WSCC courses in high school, I was put at an advantage to my peers at the university level. I am looking forward to my next semester of classes at Calvin and can’t wait to see what other opportunities in academia open up to me this spring. 

Miss Ludington Area 2020 Madelyn Shamel

Apart from a hectic school life, I have been loving getting involved with our community here and serving as your Miss Ludington Area. I have enjoyed every second of service. Thank you all for the kind words and gestures I have received. One of my most memorable moments so far was just over the holiday season. I was able to take a third grader from our local schools and give her “a day as a princess”. We had so much fun Christmas shopping, sipping hot cocoa from the Red Rooster, and just getting to know each other a little better. Throughout the day, I saw her face begin to glow more and more as her confidence grew in the young lady she is. That moment alone was enough to make this whole year worth it to me. If I can impact the young women of our community in a way that cultivates their confidence in themselves and helps them find their “princess within”, then I will be proud of my year. I hope that I can break down modern assumptions about “princesses” and help young ladies realize that princesses aren’t just pretty. Being a “princess” or a “beauty queen” doesn’t restrict you to just being pretty. You can be smart, hard-working, athletic, funny, outspoken, passionate, and why not look glamorous all at the same time? My goal is to help women realize this and encourage them to be the best version of whoever they want to be. 

Miss Ludington Area 2020 Madelyn Shamel

Keeping this goal in mind, I will continue working and serving this year. As I prepare to compete at Miss Michigan in June (woohoo!) my social impact initiative (previously known as a platform) will be the focus of my preparations. My SII is called “Better Together”. There is a lack of connection and community in the world today and I wish to offer a place where we can combat that. At school next semester I am working on a women’s ministry group called Flourish. The idea behind Flourish goes back to basic biology. Within an ecosystem, when one part of that community is failing then the rest of the ecosystem will fail as well. Even surrounding life forms may perish because of this failure. When the opposite happens though, new life is encouraged and the whole ecosystem flourishes. I want to emulate this system, in our community, at the state level, and hopefully for the national level as well. My desire for Flourish is to create a vulnerable space that promotes confidence and encourages connection. I want to create spaces that help people feel loved, love others, grow, heal from past hurts, and resolve internal struggles. I know that the best way to do this is by coming together and leaning on one another for support. One of the scariest feelings is to feel alone in a very big world. That is why I truly believe that we are all better together. 

Thank you all so much for the continual support I have been given. My time with the crown has been one of the best times of my life but I couldn’t do it without an incredible board, the best executive director out there, my parents, and every other person that has offered me advice or help in any way. From the bottom of my heart thank you all. If anyone would like to book Miss Ludington Area feel free to reach out on social media or email missludingtonarea@gmail.com. Make sure to follow the rest of my year on social media for updates and event postings. I am so proud to serve the Ludington Area.

Chat soon,

Madelyn Shamel (Miss Ludington Area 2020)