Louise Schlegel ? a senior at the University of Maryland Baltimore County ? was crowned Miss Maryland 2008 on Saturday. Schlegel?s platform is “Adoption is an Option, Not a Last Resort.” She has an adopted older brother named Christopher.
Why did you run for Miss Maryland?
If you had told me I would have even been considered for the position two years ago, I would have laughed and walked away. I lost a lot of weight and once I started setting goals and achieving those goals, I just wanted to keep going.
What was the hardest part about the pageant?
To really honestly ask myself what kind of person I was, what I wanted to do with my life and how I wanted to make a difference. And then to accept the answers to those questions and believe that I could actually accomplish those things. People are too hard on themselves today ? especially young women in America.
What do you hope to accomplish with your crown?
I want to use my position to be an advocate for adoption. Sometimes people think that they can?t have as close a relationship with an adopted child as they might have with a biological child. But that?s not true. Sometimes having to adopt can deepen and enrich the relationship. It?s the caring, the effort and the time spent with a child that creates family ? not only the genes. I wouldn?t change my family for anything. In my family, we say that the miracle of adoption brought us not one, but two children, because 6 months after my parents adopted my brother, I came around, too
