HOT SPRINGS -- Ashton Campbell woke up Sunday morning in her king-sized hotel bed with a glimmering crown on the pillow to her right and an empty Domino's pizza box to her left.
"I said, 'Yep, last night was real,'" she said.
Campbell, 20, was crowned Miss Arkansas 2014 after a 2½ hour pageant at the Summit Arena on Saturday evening, in which she won more than $75,000 in scholarships, awards and gifts. The Hindsville native will compete for the Miss America 2015 crown on Sept. 14 in Atlantic City, N.J.
But Campbell said she will focus on being Miss Arkansas, first and foremost.
"I'm not here for the sparkles and crown," she said. "That's wonderful, but I'm here for the job."
At a news conference Sunday afternoon at the Austin Convention Hotel and Spa, she announced her goal to reach a total of 75,000 Arkansas middle and high school students promoting her platform "Aim Higher: Setting Our Sights on Higher Education."
Last year, on a whim, Campbell signed up for a social work and public policy course at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where she is a sophomore business administration major. She learned 2011 Census data showed higher education attainment in Arkansas was only 34 percent. She said she believes college, technical training and trade schools are essential tools to combat high rates of crime and poverty in the state.
"Often students don't go on to further their education because they simply don't know that they can," Campbell said.
To prepare students for post-secondary education, Campbell will travel the state in her new powder-blue 2014 Chevrolet Equinox, speaking on high school involvement and financial options. She will also focus on building professional social media profiles, an increasingly important factor for recruiters and employers.
"Years of work could be thrown away because of one post or picture," Campbell said, "and this is a reality that is, and will be, very impacting on my generation for years to come."
Campbell earned the title of Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen in 2011, which she called a "great feeder program" into the Miss Arkansas competition.
"I knew that should I win, I had a plan, a goal, a mission and an incredible organization behind me," she said.
Campbell is the third consecutive Miss Arkansas to attend UA.
Campbell's parents, Roger and Tonia Campbell, were unable to attend pageant events Saturday and Sunday, as Roger remained at Washington Regional Medical Center for emergency surgery.
Campbell said he is recovering well, and she will be able to spend a few short days with her family after this week's frenzy: a slew of photo shoots, interviews and establishing her own professional social media accounts.
Metro on 06/23/2014