Wow! Your Miss Minneapolis has been busy! So busy, in fact, that since being crowned I have not had time to update my blog…so this one is going to be a long one… Enjoy!
Since being crowned, I have not stopped making appearances and training for Miss Minnesota. More importantly, I have not stopped in my fight to reduce the suicide rate in Minnesota by inspiring other young men and women in this country to seek help when they need it. I have been traveling to schools talking to the youth in this state about mental health, my own struggle with depression, and the resources available to them.
Not only have I been meeting with students, but I have been raising money for Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE). I was honored to be named an ambassador for SAVE. As many of you know, I was inspired to run for Miss America and to share my story about depression after finding out my friend Matt Challou suffered from depression, but kept it hidden until it lead to suicide. In honor of the one year anniversary of his death, I hosted the Matt Challou Memorial Fundraiser, with all proceeds going to benefit SAVE. The fundraiser was a great success!
Before the fundraiser I was honored to jump rope with some youngsters at the “Jump for the Heart” event. I jump roped to spread heart health awareness (in my crown, sash, and all!) After jumping rope, the kids were very excited to get autographs, and I ended up teaching a group of them the “cupid shuffle” dance! It was such a fun afternoon!
Also before the fundraiser, I was honored to be featured on 1280 AM The Patriot, to discuss my platform and being Miss Minneapolis. The host of the radio show was so impressed with how the interview went that he asked me to call in for ten minutes every Sunday for a weekly feature! I have been honored to use the airtime every week to talk about my platform and fundraisers, as well as to talk politics for a few minutes! Make sure to tune in every Sunday at 1:30 pm if you would like to catch my weekly segment.
The week of the fundraiser I was contacted by the documentary film crew for the project, “Call Me Mental.” This documentary crew has been travelling the nation getting stories from people who have made it through their mental illnesses, in order to inspire others to do the same. Their goal is to completely shatter the stigmas surrounding depression, anxiety, and more! I was honored to have them ask me to be featured in the third episode of their documentary series. For an entire week I had the documentary crew following me to all of my Miss Minnesota training (even in the gym), follow me to class (where I made many announcements about the Matt Challou Memorial Fundraiser), and film the entire fundraiser. At the fundraiser we screened the first two episodes of their documentary, which were amazing! I cannot wait for my episode to be released.
I most certainly have not lost touch with the documentary crew. In fact, because I am still so active in reducing the suicide rate in Minnesota, they are continuing to follow me to many of the events I am speaking at and hosting. A week after the fundraiser, I traveled to Duluth to do a radio feature with the film crew on KUMD, where I discussed suicide prevention and the stigmas surrounding mental health. I had an amazing time!
As I write this blog entry, I am on the airplane traveling home from Washington D.C. I traveled to D.C. in order to speak to members of Congress about how they can help me to reduce the suicide rate among our returning veterans. I am working on getting a piece of legislation passed in the upcoming Veterans Affairs package that reforms how we are spending money for treating patients returning home with pain, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or both. I found in my own dealings with depression and anxiety that taking a holistic approach consisting of an altered diet, frequent exercise, meditation, and acupuncture, that I was healthier than ever before. I used this basis to gather research on veterans using these practices, and was happy to find that holistic medicine is not only cheaper to treat our veterans with, but it is more effective! I’m hoping that this portion of the bill passes, and will keep working on it as it makes its way through the legislative process. While in D.C. I was honored to meet and speak with Miss America 2003- Erika Harold! Erika is one of my female political idols, and I was definitely star struck!
I have a multitude of speaking events coming up to discuss my platform, including a local fashion show, the Libertarian Party’s state convention, the Txt4Life program’s annual event, and much, much more! Be sure to follow me on Facebook (Miss Minneapolis 2014 Julia Schliesing) in order to learn about the dates and times of these events! Also coming up are more fundraisers for suicide prevention, a copious amount of training for Miss Minnesota (vocal lessons, physical training, etc.), and graduating from the University of Minnesota! I have a couple of job offers for post-graduation, but am holding out for the best job of them all, Miss Minnesota! I believe as Miss Minnesota I can help even MORE people, which is why I am training and preparing so unbelievably hard for this role! If you would like to help me achieve this, please check out my donation page. All proceeds go to helping me travel to and from speaking engagements, purchasing suicide prevention literature to hand out at said engagements, and pageant expenses necessary to become Miss Minnesota.
I am so excited to continue in my efforts to reduce the suicide rate, to train for Miss Minnesota, to graduate, and to see what the future holds for me. I am growing as a person every single day that I have this title.
Humbly yours,
Julia Schliesing
Miss Minneapolis 2014
Since being crowned, I have not stopped making appearances and training for Miss Minnesota. More importantly, I have not stopped in my fight to reduce the suicide rate in Minnesota by inspiring other young men and women in this country to seek help when they need it. I have been traveling to schools talking to the youth in this state about mental health, my own struggle with depression, and the resources available to them.
Not only have I been meeting with students, but I have been raising money for Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE). I was honored to be named an ambassador for SAVE. As many of you know, I was inspired to run for Miss America and to share my story about depression after finding out my friend Matt Challou suffered from depression, but kept it hidden until it lead to suicide. In honor of the one year anniversary of his death, I hosted the Matt Challou Memorial Fundraiser, with all proceeds going to benefit SAVE. The fundraiser was a great success!
Before the fundraiser I was honored to jump rope with some youngsters at the “Jump for the Heart” event. I jump roped to spread heart health awareness (in my crown, sash, and all!) After jumping rope, the kids were very excited to get autographs, and I ended up teaching a group of them the “cupid shuffle” dance! It was such a fun afternoon!
Also before the fundraiser, I was honored to be featured on 1280 AM The Patriot, to discuss my platform and being Miss Minneapolis. The host of the radio show was so impressed with how the interview went that he asked me to call in for ten minutes every Sunday for a weekly feature! I have been honored to use the airtime every week to talk about my platform and fundraisers, as well as to talk politics for a few minutes! Make sure to tune in every Sunday at 1:30 pm if you would like to catch my weekly segment.
The week of the fundraiser I was contacted by the documentary film crew for the project, “Call Me Mental.” This documentary crew has been travelling the nation getting stories from people who have made it through their mental illnesses, in order to inspire others to do the same. Their goal is to completely shatter the stigmas surrounding depression, anxiety, and more! I was honored to have them ask me to be featured in the third episode of their documentary series. For an entire week I had the documentary crew following me to all of my Miss Minnesota training (even in the gym), follow me to class (where I made many announcements about the Matt Challou Memorial Fundraiser), and film the entire fundraiser. At the fundraiser we screened the first two episodes of their documentary, which were amazing! I cannot wait for my episode to be released.
I most certainly have not lost touch with the documentary crew. In fact, because I am still so active in reducing the suicide rate in Minnesota, they are continuing to follow me to many of the events I am speaking at and hosting. A week after the fundraiser, I traveled to Duluth to do a radio feature with the film crew on KUMD, where I discussed suicide prevention and the stigmas surrounding mental health. I had an amazing time!
As I write this blog entry, I am on the airplane traveling home from Washington D.C. I traveled to D.C. in order to speak to members of Congress about how they can help me to reduce the suicide rate among our returning veterans. I am working on getting a piece of legislation passed in the upcoming Veterans Affairs package that reforms how we are spending money for treating patients returning home with pain, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or both. I found in my own dealings with depression and anxiety that taking a holistic approach consisting of an altered diet, frequent exercise, meditation, and acupuncture, that I was healthier than ever before. I used this basis to gather research on veterans using these practices, and was happy to find that holistic medicine is not only cheaper to treat our veterans with, but it is more effective! I’m hoping that this portion of the bill passes, and will keep working on it as it makes its way through the legislative process. While in D.C. I was honored to meet and speak with Miss America 2003- Erika Harold! Erika is one of my female political idols, and I was definitely star struck!
I have a multitude of speaking events coming up to discuss my platform, including a local fashion show, the Libertarian Party’s state convention, the Txt4Life program’s annual event, and much, much more! Be sure to follow me on Facebook (Miss Minneapolis 2014 Julia Schliesing) in order to learn about the dates and times of these events! Also coming up are more fundraisers for suicide prevention, a copious amount of training for Miss Minnesota (vocal lessons, physical training, etc.), and graduating from the University of Minnesota! I have a couple of job offers for post-graduation, but am holding out for the best job of them all, Miss Minnesota! I believe as Miss Minnesota I can help even MORE people, which is why I am training and preparing so unbelievably hard for this role! If you would like to help me achieve this, please check out my donation page. All proceeds go to helping me travel to and from speaking engagements, purchasing suicide prevention literature to hand out at said engagements, and pageant expenses necessary to become Miss Minnesota.
I am so excited to continue in my efforts to reduce the suicide rate, to train for Miss Minnesota, to graduate, and to see what the future holds for me. I am growing as a person every single day that I have this title.
Humbly yours,
Julia Schliesing
Miss Minneapolis 2014
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