It’s been a long road for the newest Miss New Hampshire. Brooke Mills competed in every year in which she was eligible, and finally won a state title. Starting as a teen, Mills later competed for the Miss New Hampshire title four previous times, and once for Miss South Carolina.
It could also be said that the crown is in her blood, as her mother, Stephanie Foisy Mills Ryan, was Miss New Hampshire 1995.
The soon-to-be-chiropractor (another way in which she’s following mom’s footprints) said there’s something to be said for perseverance, but also patiently waiting until it’s “your time.” Now, she plans to cherish every moment of her year, and has big plans.
“I want to hit the ground running,” she said. “I plan to leave this organization better than how I found it. I really feel like it’s helped me grow as a person, so I want to make sure we’re bringing on a lot more sponsors, that we are getting new contestants involved and making an easy path to getting involved, and bringing in more scholarship dollars.”
In fact, Mills has already earned more than $65,000 in scholarships, and is super close to completing her Doctor of Chiropractic degree. She walks in June, but officially graduates this fall.
“Dr.” Mills also has another plan for the autumn of 2023.
“In the first 100 days of the 2023-2024 school year, I’d like to speak to 100 classrooms about ‘Choose Health’ and make an impact however I can,” she said.
Mills’s Community Service Initiative includes tips for young people on how to live a healthy lifestyle, including mental health, which is a cause dear to the heart of the brain injury survivor.
“I’m still very passionate about concussion awareness,” she said. “I’m still working with that, and I founded national Concussion Awareness Day. But, I really felt like there was a greater need for education and resources relating to health and making sure our children have the inspiration and ability, and the understanding of how their daily choices and habits impact their overall life and well-being.”
The pillars of that initiative include sleep, movement, eating properly, living substance-free, and mental health.
“All of these things tie into creating a better opportunity for successful mental health and a better outlook on life,” Mills said.
While she says Miss New Hampshire week was again an incredible experience, she wasn’t quite sure how well she would fare when the final announcements were made.
“I couldn’t say I felt amazing about everything, but I didn’t have any regrets,” she said. “I really did the best that I could with everything, and I made sure I was staying kind to myself – reminding myself that I was mentally, physically and spiritually ready for this job, and if it was meant to be for me, then it would be in the cards.”
While awaiting that final bit of good news, she and eventual first runner-up Morgan Torre shared kinds words for each other.
“I kept telling her that she was incredible, she was amazing and she was valued,” she said. “There was one other time I was in that position, when I was first runner-up. That experience of having that moment, that we are both important and valued…was so important to me. I wanted to make sure we shared that moment of positivity.”
For more information, visit http://www.missnh.org.
New England Pageant News 