The week is winding down. There is an old saying, “it’s all over but the shoutin’!” That is the feeling that I would suspect most of the parents, and contestants, have at this stage of the game. We have now come to the final day.

All of the weeks of preparation, the countless hours of exercise, the thousands of miles driven to coaching sessions and hours and hours of study and research for a 9-minute interview have come to an end. For 43 of the contestants, it will feel as if it may have been for naught.

But I hope that feeling is fleeting. I hope that they will look back upon those miles and hours and crunches and baked chicken breasts, and realize that they were a part of history. I hope they will truly see the pageant preparation as preparation for life.

There will never be a time when they, as well as the rest of us, won’t need to prepare for a job interview, a major family event, or simply health improvements that lead to a better quality of life.

There will never be a time when these girls will be finished presenting the best of themselves in all that they do. To me, these are the important life lessons learned through pageantry.

While scripture does tell us that “man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart,” people often forget man does look on the outward appearance first.

Right or wrong, the way we present ourselves in our dress and mannerisms has serious bearing upon how others perceive us.

You have heard it said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Well, these girls have mastered the art of the first impression.

But there is so much more than physical appearance.

Successful people set goals and strive to attain them. While I’m sure that there are a few contestants out of the 44 who are there to win and nothing else, there are many who had the goal to just get to Vicksburg.

They’ve worked to achieve these personal goals. They’ve learned to sacrifice momentary pleasures for a grander prize. They’ve seen what lengths they’re families are willing to go in order to see them succeed.

And look at the service.

The work these young ladies have done will continue.

So many Miss Mississippi contestants volunteer in their communities long after their pageant careers have ended. Multitudes will reap the benefits of seeds planted by young ladies who joined an organization that required service and scholarship as well as style in order to achieve success.

Pageant week may be winding down, but these 44 forces of nature are just getting started.

Kristy Brumfield is the mother of Colby Brumfield, who is competing in the Miss Mississippi Pageant. Colby is the reigning Miss Warren County. Kristy has been associated with the pageant over the years, but this marks her first year as a “pageant mom.”