Over 10 years, sophomore Karolyn Martin went to 13 different schools.

“I have a lot of experience with the culture of being a military child,” Martin said.

Martin, communication sciences and disorders major, was crowned Miss Moore County on Aug. 24. 

 “Moore County is really close to Fort Bragg military base, and there are a lot of people in Moore County, especially where I live in Whispering Pines, that are military families,” Martin said. 

Part of Miss Moore County’s role is presenting a social impact initiative, and Martin’s is called “#SelfKare: Eat to Success.”

“As a child coming from a military family and being an athlete, nutrition was always really important to me,” Martin said. “But, when I was growing up, I felt like I put a lot of focus on eating well so that I looked a certain way or so that I was a certain weight and fit a certain dress size, and I want to make sure that kids aren’t growing up feeling that way.”

Martin said she wants to educate people on how to eat to fuel their minds and bodies for success while taking the focus off weight and body image through informational workshops and a cookbook.

“My long term goal is to release a cookbook and create an online community so that people have access to a tool that is there to help them eat to success,” Martin said. “We live in a very digital world where we are all really worried about how we look, and I want to make sure that when people are eating and they’re thinking about nutrition, they’re not thinking about it for aesthetics. They’re thinking about it in a way that fuels them to go to school, or to go to work, or do sports, and really do well in the world.”

The Miss Moore County competition is a part of the Miss America Organization, which is the largest scholarship provider for women in the U.S. Martin won $2,000 in scholarships, including $500 for winning the talent show for singing “Think of Me” from “Phantom of the Opera,” which is her favorite musical.

Martin said the talent competition is her favorite competition. 

In addition to the talent show, competition for Miss Moore County also involves a 10 minute private interview with the judges, an evening gown competition and an onstage question. 

The Miss America Organization removed the swimsuit portion of the competition last year.

“With Miss America 2.0, the national board felt that the changes they have made will propel the Miss America Organization into a more progressive era,” Martin said. “Although this came with the elimination of the lifestyle and fitness competition, it has not made nutrition, healthy living and physical fitness less important to the women of this organization.”