Miss Nebraska talks total body wellness on Kimball visit

Miss Nebraska Megan Swanson said it was important for young people to pay attention to total body wellness in order to be the best they can be.

Swanson told students at Mary Lynch Elementary that Friday afternoon during her stop in Kimball. She spoke to students at Kimball Junior/Senior High School on Friday morning.

The 6-foot tall Swanson, who is the shortest member of her immediate family, was crowned Miss Nebraska last summer. She previously studied at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., and plans to return there after her duties as Miss Nebraska are up in order to finish her degree.

Swanson's theme is total body wellness, taking care of body, soul and spirit. She said the inner portion of wellness is often ignored.

"There's a third component to wellness, and that's what goes on in the inside of us all the time," she said. "It really affects us and whether we meet those wellness goals."

Swanson, 21, was bullied from the age of 5 until she was 18, and said that greatly affected her inner life. She said that she constantly worried about what other people thought of her instead of being the person that she wanted to be. Swanson also gained the "freshman 15" pounds during her first year of college, and could not get rid of it no matter what she did.

"It was a whole new culture where I was making decisions all the time," Swanson said. "I was eating what I thought was healthy, but for some reason I was still gaining this weight." She also exercised during that time as well.

Swanson faced the music during the summer after her first year in college, when she returned home. She was unhappy with the way things were, but was unable to change things.

"Why can't I get over this? Why am I falling into the same pitfalls," she asked.

Swanson said she was unhappy with the person she saw in the mirror. That is when her mother told her to look at herself in the mirror and tell herself that she was beautiful. Swanson could not do that.

"I was so unhappy with who I saw in the mirror that I didn't like myself," she said. "That's a really big deal."

Her mother would not let her stop, however, and Swanson finally admitted that she loved her eyes. She then discovered she was not the person she wanted to be, and wanted to change things.

"I made a conscious decision to do whatever it takes to be a better version of myself," Swanson said.

That is when the now-Miss Nebraska said she decided to really learn about herself instead of the person she had become through others' eyes. Swanson said it was time to be the person she was destined to be, instead of allowing "what other people said to become who I was."

From that point on, Swanson chose to create her own path and surround herself with an "inner circle" to positively reinforce her decisions. She said one key is also to create roots.

"A tree with deep roots won't sway as much," she said.

Swanson said it is important to deal with one's inner life and not let it go. When people feel bad inside, they do things to cope, she said, and that does not address the issue.

She said the key is to believe in yourself in order to make it where you want to be.

"If you first believe you can't do it, you won't take the steps to achieve it," Swanson said.

Swanson also said that just because someone is bullying you does not necessarily mean it is because of something you have done or the person you are.

"If they are hurting you, it could be them and not you," she said.

Miss Nebraska said that every one can achieve their dreams if they believe in themselves.

"The finish line starts with believing in yourself," she said. "Every single one of you are special and can achieve your dreams."

After the talk, the students asked Swanson many questions. She was asked how the crown stays on (by using bobby pins), how many states she has visited (43), how tall she is (6 feet), how many oceans she has seen (2 - Atlantic and Pacific), how many pets she currently has (2 cats), how many songs she has written (about 20 "good" songs), her favorite instrument (cello) and much more. They even asked about her brother, Ian, who recently graduated from Hillsdale College.

To begin the presentation, Swanson played the guitar and sang the song "Dwell" as her brother, Ian, played the bongo drum and sang in harmony. Swanson wrote the song, and it should be released on iTunes within the next two months.

The students also presented Miss Nebraska with a Longhorns T-shirt, and then posed for photos and visited with her after Friday's presentation.