For a college-age woman, McKenna Collins has had a variety experiences. She’s been a professional dancer, served as an intern with Speaker Paul Ryan and now represents the Badger State as Miss Wisconsin.
The Waunakee graduate spoke about her experiences at the Feb. 22 Waunakee Rotary meeting, along with her platform as Miss Wisconsin.
McKenna and her family moved to Waunakee when she started high school. Halfway through school, she was fortunate enough to sign a contract with Madison Ballet to dance professionally and so finished her high school degree online.
Faced with the choice of continuing her dancing career after graduation, she opted to attend college.
“I had missed out so much in high school, I didn’t want to miss out on my college years,” she said.
A year later, the company ran out of funding and McKenna returned to UW-Madison.
But she wanted some real-world experience, she said. Her mother had been a newscaster, and her father kept up with the latest news, so she applied for an internship with Speaker Robin Vos.
After making some connections, she learned an internship was open in U.S. Sen. Paul Ryan’s office, and received one of five positions to work for him.
“I moved out there and had an amazing semester working on the Hill,” she said. She developed a passion for policymaking and enjoyed getting the chance to attend hearings.
She began to reflect on what she wanted in life.
“I felt like I really had a diverse array of experiences and wanted to share them,” she said.
Her sister suggested she compete in the Miss Wisconsin pageant. McKenna said she thought it would be “a really cool platform to have.”
She won the Miss Madison Capital City pageant and then the Miss Wisconsin competition.
“One of the really cool aspects is every titleholder has a platform,” McKenna said.
Hers is Tabletalk: Promoting Civil Discourse. She chose it because she was working on Capital Hill during the 2106 elections and said all of the news reports were filled with negative, polarizing rhetoric. Always a firm believer in communication, McKenna said that negativity would affect not only the election but the country, as well, after it was over.
Now she goes into kindergarten classrooms to talk to kids about what it means to communicate with respect and kindness. She also visits Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs.
“The goal was to create more compassionate communication,” she said.
She hopes as she talks to people, and they share the message with others, it will have a ripple effect, she said.
“Only when you really listen to where someone is coming from, can you understand their point of view,” she said.
 
Other news:
–Applications are being taken for  RYLA, a youth leadership program for sophomores. Also, host families are needed for the next youth exchange student coming next year, Lori Derauf said.
–Gary Epping still has tickets for sale for Super Raffle.
–A Rotary Friendship Exchange to Iceland is being planned, Linda Olson said.
–A club is needed to host a incoming friendship exchange group from Sweden. About six families are needed to host. If members are interested, let Linda know

 

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Guests: Guy Stratton, guest of Mark McFarland; Linda Schmitz, guest of Jim Schmitz.  

 

Visiting Rotarians: None.

 

Birthdays: March 1, Rex Endres.

 

Anniversaries: None.

 

Greeters: March 1, Michael Blodgett and Jonny Buroker; March 8, Kathy Cefalu and Tasha Chambers; March 15, Scott Cochems and John Cullen.