National Pageant Queen Plans Work and Works Plan

From The NC A&T Alumni Times:

Elesia Summers-Thomas is royalty. She captured her first national pageant title in July and will serve as Miss Essence 2013 for the next year.

“When my name was called I was excited because I worked really hard,” Summers-Thomas said. “It was very exciting because I said this was my last pageant, I am retiring.”

Over the past few years she has competed in almost a dozen pageants but before her final walk and farewell the newly crowned queen has a lot to accomplish.

A queen’s story is never what it seems. Behind the poise of three-point turns lays an intense drive to be better than the person you were yesterday. For Summers-Thomas her connection to child abuse prevention, breast cancer and bullying keeps her focused on servant-hood.

“My mother is a breast cancer survivor,” she said. “My focus is awareness and early detection.”

She explains that her concentration on bullying began when the family member of a close friend took their life because they were being bullied in school.

“I’ve gone back to North Carolina to speak with schools about bullying and how their words can affect others,” she said “I really don’t think our youth understand the power of their words and how they affect other people.”

She is also active and will continue to be involved with the Stop Child Abuse Now of Northern Virginia (SCANVA) and Prevent Child Abuse America organizations, both of which advocate for and promote awareness of child abuse prevention. Her platform is the Child Abuse Prevention Effort (CAPE) program.

In addition to her pageant title Summers-Thomas is a professional Redskins Cheerleader, an advertising and media specialist for the United States Postal Service and a Ph. D student.
She admits to using a heavily highlighted and color coded planner to keep track of her many tasks and commitments.

“Time management is key,” she said.

The double Aggie received her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from North Carolina A&T State University and was employed by the university for a year. She can recall a time, just two years ago, when her current accomplishments were merely goals on a list.

“I had this crazy insane list and nobody believed me but it was what I wanted to do,” she said. “It didn’t happen overnight, it was a long process to get to where I am and I still have a long process ahead of me for the things I want to do in the future.”

“My advice for students, young alumni or anyone is to set a plan for yourself and figure out how to achieve those goals,” said Summers-Thomas, “Don’t wait until the moment that will define whether or not you meet your goal gets here.”

“Whatever your goals are start now,” she said.

[Elesia at Redskins.com]