December 27th, Tis the Season to Be Thankful for Support!

In order to continue with my tis the season postings, today's message is directed toward all of my generous supporters! Throughout my life I have always had a tremendous amount of support from family and friends in all of the things I have done. I know that that is simply because of the wonderful blessings I have been given. The Lord has placed every person in my life for a reason, each person I meet comes and goes as my heavenly father chooses and changes my life in ways I couldn't have imagined.

In the past few months I have encountered so many giving hearts! With the help of family and friends I am coming closer and closer to my goal of getting to the Miss Black USA pageant. With each donation, I become more motivated to make a difference. Although the end goal is the national pageant, I know that my biggest accomplishment this year will never be a crown or a title.

The greatest accomplishment I can or will ever have, is the look in a young woman's eyes when she begins to truly believe in herself and see herself as beautiful. Young women are the catalysts of our society, and my dream is truly for the state of Ohio to be full of girls who believe in themselves and the great things they can accomplish.
All of the support I have received pushes me to work harder for this dream. This holiday season I am thankful for support! I am thankful for each donation, for each kind word, each congratulatory remark, and each person who has helped me plan an event. Though this post is to tell everyone how thankful I am for support, it is also to truly say thank you for all of the love I have received in the last few months. I am truly blessed :)

With love,

Miss Black Ohio
Kayla Hardimon

December 25th: Merry Christmas from Miss Black Ohio!

Hello all!
I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas full of love, good times, good food, and good people! On the good people note, today's post is about FAMILY! Tis the season to be thankful for family (keeping up with the tis the season series as promised :))

In my family, on Christmas Eve we have many traditions! My aunt and uncle come in town along with my Nana and Popop, we have christmas eve dinner together, my father and I cook cheese cake -which is surely an interesting experience EVERY time- my brothers make cookies with my mom, my dad reads 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' - comedy every single time- and we sing Christmas carols around the tree, and then on Christmas day after opening presents we go to my grandma's house!
Although we do the same things every year, their is always something new. Whether it's a new way my dad reads the story, or funny moments while singing the carols, Christmas Eve with family is always an experience.
On this Christmas, I must say that family is what I am most thankful for, the thing that I know I could not live without. Along with the great times we have together on Christmas Eve and Christmas day my family is a gift to me every single day of the year. As Miss Black Ohio, it is such a blessing to have so much support from so many family members.
It is truly the season to be thankful for family for me! From getting donations to help me along my way, to presents for Christmas, to simply showing interest in the things I'm doing, my family is a blessing.
I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

With love,

Kayla Hardimon

Miss Black Ohio Speaks: December 22nd, Tis the Season!

Christmas is just THREE DAYS AWAY! That my friends, is a very exciting fact. As Christmas gets closer and the new year approaches I can't help but think about how much of a blessing this year has been. Not only have I done and experienced things beyond my wildest dreams, but I have grown in so many ways! I learned a lot in 2011, and as Miss Black Ohio USA I know that the lessons will keep coming.

As this year comes to a close I am really thinking about all of the things that I am thankful for. The list is never ending, but it starts with my heavenly father. This year I have learned that the Lord has a plan for my life, one that at times I don't completely understand.

Moment of truth: When the lord placed it on my heart to do The Miss Black Ohio pageant I had no idea what he was thinking!

Little did I know, that he had a plan for me, a path laid out for my life. I am so very thankful that this path included The Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant and the Miss Black Ohio Scholarship and Pageant Foundation.

The Lord knew that I had a heart for young women, a desire to make a change, to impact the lives of young people and he found a way to help me do that. My heavenly father has been building and shaping me, preparing me for this year, and I am ready to take on all that it brings!

I have so many MORE things that I am thankful for. This year has truly been a blessing! We'll call the next few posts my 'Tis the Season to Be Thankful' series :)

Stay tuned!

With love,

Miss Black Ohio
Kayla Hardimon

Do You Want To Be The Next Miss Black Ohio USA Talented Teen?

Do You Want To Be The Next Miss Black Ohio USA?

Miss Black Ohio Speaks: What is The Girl Effect?

The Girl Effect is a project and movement that I heard about earlier this year. The idea behind this movement is very simple... one girl can change her community, her country and the world for the better. The Care project aims to help girls, families and impoverished communities overcome the forces of HIV/AIDS, child pregnancy and marriage, poverty and the many other issues plaguing communities and countries around the world. This is one of my favorite videos from The Care project. Watch this video, if you are interesting in donating to this cause simply click the link below!



The Girl Effect 

Miss Black Ohio Speaks: It's All About Sisterhood!

As I prepare for the Miss Black USA contestant Fashion Shoot in DC and continue to look for events and ways to be active in my community, I am beginning to see very clearly how important the Miss Black USA organization is. In the last few days I have been in contact with three fellow Miss Black Ohio USA's, spoken quickly with Miss Black Illinois (my roommate for the Red Dress photo shoot), joined a contestant group and become Facebook friends with about 20 of my fellow Sister Queens. Through these interactions I have seen more friendliness, joy, love, giving, and help then I could have ever imagined.

I was able to contact Miss Black Ohio 2010 a few days ago. She gave me some valuable advice, showed me her blog from 2010 and provided some useful suggestions on what I should do next! Following my discussion with her I spoke with Miss Black Ohio 2011. She spoke with me for almost an hour sharing stories from her experience, giving me advice and promising to be a helping hand throughout my journey.

In addition to my interactions with the Ashley- Miss Black Ohio 2010- and Brittainy- Miss Black Ohio 2011-Whitney Gaskins, Miss Black Ohio 2009, has been a tremendous help as well. I am sure that during her year of service she learned the same lesson that I am currently learning. Sisterhood, is a vital part of our strength as women. With this knowledge she is now the head of the Miss Black Ohio USA organization, and a driving force behind everything that we do.

I am so blessed to have become a part of the Miss Black USA sisterhood. The women that I have already met have proved to be strong, hard working, determined and loving ladies who truly desire to make a difference in this world. I hope that I can continue the legacy of the Miss Black Ohio queens who came before me and become an influential part of the Miss Black USA organization throughout my year of service and beyond!

With love,
Kayla Hardimon

Miss Black Ohio Speaks About the STARS in Dayton, Ohio

On Thursday I had the opportunity to speak with the young women of the STARS organization at Wright Pat Air Force base's Chapel 3. It was a WONDERFUL experience. I have to admit that I was a little nervous going into the event since it was my first guest speaking venture as Miss Black Ohio, but my nerves quickly turned to excitement once I met the young women.

The girls were 6th-12th graders who's family are members of Chapel 3. They are a part of a youth program called STARS that was named after 5 very important women in the bible. These girls meet every week to talk about Christ and how he relates to events in their lives. At their last meeting they spoke about the importance of self image, especially when it comes to social networking!
I was truly blessed to speak to these girls and tell them about my journey. I was able to share some things about myself and encourage them to fight for their dreams.

Going into my first event I questioned how well I would be received and how much of what I was saying would be taken in by the girls, and I am pleased to say that throughout the discussion I truly felt like they were attentive and interested in what was being said.

I must say that my favorite part of the event was the very beginning. I got to ask each girl "what is one thing you love about yourself." For me this was a VERY important question, simply because at their age it would have been extremely difficult for me to give an honest answer. I can tell already that is going to be one of my favorite parts of my entire year. Being able to hear young people praise themselves is truly a blessing. I truly believe that once you can find the things that YOU love about YOU there is nothing that can stand in your way. Having confidence in your own abilities and loving yourself is an important key to success!

Miss Black Ohio 2012, the Journey Begins!

This Thursday I will be a guest speaker at this event! If you are a young woman or know of a young woman in the Dayton area I encourage you to come. 

I am so honored to have this opportunity to poor into the lives of young women just like myself. It is truly a blessing. This will be my first official hosting/ speaking event as Miss Black Ohio USA! I can't wait to let you all know how it goes :D