Ashley Boalch, a University of Maryland Shady Grove student, won a $1,000 scholarship through a Miss America pageant.
It was a typical work night at a Georgetown lounge for Ashley Boalch when a customer made an offhand comment to the 23-year-old waitress.
The patron was a Miss America contestant and wanted to know Boalch’s age and whether she had any special talents. Boalch said she did, and the contestant launched into a discussion laying out the opportunities available through the Miss America Organization.
“At the time, I was paying for school by myself and working four nights a week to do it,” said Boalch, who is a communication graduate student at the University of Maryland, Shady Grove. “I heard the word ‘scholarship,’ and I said, ‘sign me up.'”
And Boalch’s first ever pageant, Miss District of Columbia last summer, garnered a win and helped lead her to eventually secure a coveted scholarship. Although she did not place in the Miss America competition, she was the recipient of the $1,000 John Curran Journalism award at the January 14 pageant in Las Vegas, which will help pay her tuition.
The award is given to the non-winning contestant who excels in the 10-minute interview segment of the pageant — skills she said she honed as a communication graduate student and during her role as Miss D.C. Boalch answered questions ranging from “What problems do you see plaguing society today?” to “What is a bad habit you have?”
“I can see that I am so much more comfortable speaking in front of a camera and addressing large audiences,” she said.
Growing up in a single-parent household, Boalch said her strength to put herself into the national spotlight stemmed from watching her mother work hard to support her and her two siblings, sometimes working 13-hour days.
“Looking back on what has influenced me most, it would be having the strongest and most supportive mother I could ever ask for,” Boalch said. “She has been the only parent I’ve ever had and all I’ve ever needed.”
Being Miss-any-state is no easy task, Boalch said. In her tenure, Boalch balanced community service at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship — a program that helps young students stay in school — and helped raise funds for children’s hospitals through the Children’s Miracle Network. She also had a full-time marketing internship at a Washington-based real estate company. She took a semester off from her communication major to fulfill the duties of her new position.
“We are extremely proud of Ashley, especially from where we grew up,” said her mother Sheila Matthews. “She doesn’t give up and always finds a way to help someone who needs it.”
As Miss DC, she was required to work with charity organizations in the Washington area, which included raising money, participating in charity events and attending galas. While Boalch said the commitment was time consuming, the position was worth the benefits, such as meeting Travel Channel’s Anthony Bourdain while serving plates at a celebrity charity cook-off in Washington.
Lauren Seely, who was crowned Miss DC Outstanding Teen, said Boalch has served as her mentor for the past year.
“I have never seen anyone quite as intelligent and truly beautiful as she is,” Seely said. “She inspires everyone she meets and has awed us with her ability to make a difference in the community.”
blasey@umdbk.com
