The addition of Sexton, 23, to the national competition means at least two contestants with UCF ties will vie for the Miss America title Sept. 11 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Erin O’Flaherty, who was Miss UCF 2013, was recently crowned Miss Missouri to represent that state.

Sexton, of Starke, was crowned in Lakeland over 47 other contestants and won an $18,000 scholarship. She also won the “lifestyle, fitness and swimsuit” competition earlier in the week.

Sexton last year finished in the top 10 of the Miss Florida Pageant as Miss Daytona Beach.

Finishing as 1st runner-up in the pageant was another UCF student, Lindsay Bettis, a member of the UCF KnightMoves dance team. Bettis competed as Miss Daytona Beach.

O’Flaherty, 23, owns and operates a boutique in Chesterfield, Missouri. She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting in 2014.

Flaherty, 23, owns and operates a boutique in Chesterfield, Missouri. She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting in 2014.

She said she took a couple years off from pageant competition but decided to try in her last year of age eligibility for the Miss America Pageant, which will be in September in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Her pageant platform has always been suicide prevention, a topic dear to her because she had a friend in high school who committed suicide. While at UCF, O’Flaherty also was a columnist for the UCF Forum opinion series. One of her columns, explained why she is involved in suicide prevention.

And to read a Q&A about her after she won the Miss UCF title, click here.

I certainly never envisioned my first funeral experience would be to watch my 14-year-old best friend’s body being lowered into the ground as the result of a lonely death in his closet by his own hand. Vague are the last words he said to me, but the memories we shared are fresh in my mind.

“It’s Joseph.” These two words spoken to me on a Friday morning by a friend in the parking lot of my middle school shattered my current world and gave my future world purpose.

These two words were all that she uttered, giving away nothing and everything at the same time, instantly providing an explanation for the other people in the parking lot hunched over as if they couldn’t breathe. As these two small words rang in my head on repeat mode, I, too, lost my breath, already knowing the full story. In recent months, amidst struggling with transferring schools and learning the social ropes of a new, intimidating environment, Joseph had been having an internal struggle that often led to suicidal thoughts. He confided in us, his close circle of friends, and shared these thoughts that we collectively tried to comfort.

According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, the number of Americans who die by suicide each year is nearly double the number of Americans who die by homicide and car accidents combined. Moreover, 1,100 college students lose their lives to suicide each year, and suicide within our military is at an all-time high.

I recall being told by my mother and others to focus only on what I can control. Wouldn’t suicide-prevention efforts to help others come under that category?

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September is National Suicide Prevention Month. During this month, it is especially important to stress that suicide is preventable. There are always signs, desperate cries for help, and it is our responsibility to be able to recognize them when they appear.

But what will happen when September ends? Raising awareness for just one month isn’t enough; we need to keep it in the forefront all year long.  

Suicide has long been a taboo subject with many people. It is viewed as a shameful way to die, and families and friends left behind by suicide are often reluctant to share their stories for fear that the social stigma associated with it will cloud the legacy and cherished memories of the passed loved one. While I can appreciate their sentiment and acknowledge that the stigma unfortunately is real, I couldn’t disagree more with this approach.

Not only do suicide prevention efforts save the lives of others, but I’ve also found it therapeutic to my own mourning and healing process over the past eight years to share the story of my friend.

I remember thinking that I would never smile again after Joseph died. Then the first time I did, I remember feeling guilty for it. I was eating maraschino cherries at a Ruby Tuesday. I wondered how that, of all things, did the trick. It’s peculiar the details we remember sometimes.

I was never granted closure in Joseph’s death in the sense of an explanation. When Joseph took his life, he left no note. I will never know why March 23, 2006, was the day he decided to end his life. The date has a scarring significance in my life that is greater than any birthday or holiday. I have a hole in my heart that will never close because the only person who can provide the answers to my questions is gone. I have nothing but memories and pictures to cherish, and I will never have more than that.

At the time, Joseph’s actions made me angrier and more hurt than I ever thought possible, but I still love and appreciate him now that he is gone. 

Sometimes it’s odd how the world works, how tragedy results in such extreme irony. What I have learned, though, is not only is suicide preventable, it is also possible to smile again, knowing that we have the power to create legacies for those who weren’t given enough time to do so for themselves. Moreover, we have the power to give those at risk the resources to live full lives and create their own legacies.

We likely all will know someone in our lifetime that is at risk for suicide. We also, I hope, make efforts to be civically engaged. What better way is there to combine the two, by becoming engaged in a cause that contributes to such a large number of preventable deaths and that would, if continued to be ignored, affect most people in their lifetime?

I urge you to find your motivation beyond September’s National Suicide Prevention Month to help end suicide.

What motivates me each day to talk, to care, to listen?

It’s Joseph.

Erin O’Flaherty is a senior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in accounting and the current Miss şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą. She can be reached at eoflaherty@knights.ucf.edu.

I am 20 years old and 5-foot-6. On a regular basis my scale tells me that I’m right around 125 pounds. I have been an athlete my entire life and I work out daily, mixing strength training with running. I can run one mile at a 7-minute pace, or multiple miles at an 8:30 pace. My calorie intake is 1,300 a day, and I use an app to track everything I eat.

I’m not touting my fitness for no reason. I’m an athlete and competitor within the Miss America Organization as the reigning Miss şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą. MAO is the world’s largest provider of scholarships to women 17-24 and I cannot say enough about the wonderful things this organization has brought to my life. Apart from scholarship money, I’ve gained self-confidence, a genuine commitment to community service, a clearer vision of my career and academic goals, and lifelong friends.

By competing for local titles in hopes of achieving the dream jobs of Miss Florida and Miss America, I willingly subject myself to being judged on a 1-10 scale by a panel of judges in five categories, including interview, talent and evening wear.

But there is one aspect of competition that I have always thought has been a bit behind the times: swimsuit. You know the drill. Contestants put on bathing suits and strut around stage to high-tempo music. The task is to look confident!

The swimsuit phase now is delicately named “Lifestyle and Fitness.” The name was changed when Miss America 1951, Yolanda Betbeze, refused to participate in a swimwear-only photo shoot because it was awkward.  Well, Yolanda, I agree. Sadly, changing the name seems to be the only change to this phase of competition that’s been made in 62 years.

That competition has little, if anything, to do with the actual lifestyle or fitness of the competitors. Behind the scenes, pressures to obtain a certain number on the scale, somewhere below the 110 range for a contestant of my height, far outweigh any focus on fitness. I feel there is a constant, looming pressure to emphasize the number on the scale rather than a number on a weight or stopwatch.  On stage, the woman who is simply thin is consistently awarded more points and attention compared to the one who may weigh more, but actually has a healthier “lifestyle and fitness” level.

I’ll be honest, this has given me great pause where pursuing my dream of being Miss America is concerned. It’s not because I am averse to putting in hard work to sustain a healthy lifestyle. In fact, with or without the Miss America Organization, I already focus on a healthy lifestyle because the benefits of exercise extend well beyond the physical rewards.

It’s also not because the Miss America Organization has unintentionally placed an over-emphasis on the swimsuit aspect of competition. The MAO stands for so much more than that, which is why I am, ultimately, so proud to be a competitor within it.

It is because so many women go to extremes. When judges determine how fit a contestant is based solely on how thin her frame is, the result breeds pursuit of an unhealthy body image among competitors. If we continue to approach the lifestyle and fitness category on this basis, then just call it what it is: a continued emphasis on a body ideal that very, very few will ever attain, let alone sustain.

It would be better to reform the ways we judge how physically fit a contestant is. The first thing that comes to mind is an actual fitness test.

My involvement in the Miss America Organization is but one example, of course, of a culturally misplaced emphasis on weight over fitness. Most people evaluate themselves using funhouse mirrors because most of society views beauty as a quality of the young and uberskinny. I can’t change my genetic makeup, a natural hourglass shape, any more than I can change my shoe size. What I can change is my level of fitness. I can set goals to maintain a regimen that boosts my metabolism and builds lean muscle. While previous generations have had growing life expectancies, the National Center for Health Statistics states that for the first time, those in my generation can’t expect to live as long as our parents.

Is my fitness accurately being judged by a score of 1-10 as I walk across a stage nearly naked? No. It’s our job to instill a realistic and attainable level of health and fitness in our generation.

 O’Flaherty is a senior majoring in accounting with a minor in leadership studies. She is a former Orientation leader, LEAD Scholar and Knight-Thon morale member and is currently an ambassador for the QPR Suicide Prevention program. Her platform is “Suicide Prevention ─ We’re All Responsible.”

 The night before, the new Mr. UCF 2013, Roberto Canalas, competed along nine other Mr. UCF contestants to win the title. Canalas is a junior majoring in interpersonal and organizational communications with a minor in leadership studies. He is a former LEAD Scholar and is currently the morale director for Knight-Thon.

The university is riding a streak of three consecutive Miss Florida titles held by students: currently Kristina Janolo, preceded by Jacqueline Raulerson in 2010 and Rachael Todd in 2009.

And in next week’s 2012 Miss Florida Scholarship Pageant, nine of the 43 contestants are UCF students – so perhaps the streak will extend to four titles.

Janolo, a marketing major from Kissimmee, will turn over the title to her successor at the conclusion of the July 4-7 pageant in St. Petersburg.

The new contestants from UCF have career ambitions that range from providing therapy for brain trauma patients, to becoming a CPA, to performing as a classical pianist.

They are:

Janolo, who is returning to UCF as a senior to complete her degree, said she is looking forward to going back to the classroom.

“I’m excited that the scholarships I’ve won through the Miss America organization will allow me to graduate debt-free,” she said. She won $35,000 for her education while participating in pageants for the past six years. “I look forward to crowning the next Miss Florida – maybe another UCF woman.”

The new Miss Florida will advance to compete for the title of Miss America. Janolo finished in the top 12 of the 2012 Miss America competition in Las Vegas.