That 'it' factor

"It's hard to define it or put your finger on it, but after knowing Savvy for many years, I knew she was going to Atlantic City with it," says Toni Bahn, the director of the Miss University of Arkansas Pageant. "She just has that 'it' factor that Miss America is looking for."

"I just felt like it was meant to be for her," says Savvy's mom, Karen Shields of Fayetteville.

"Watching the girl you prayed with, laughed with and stood hand in hand on stage with have her dreams come true is something I'll never forget," says Savannah Skidmore, who stepped up into the role of Miss Arkansas when Savvy Shields won the national title on Sept. 11.

"There wasn't a specific moment where I felt that I had won, but an overall, overwhelming feeling of peace during all of the phases of competition on that final night," says Shields herself, whose life has been a whirlwind of appearances on TV, radio and at the Wal-Mart Saturday morning meeting last weekend. "I remember hearing the iconic song 'There She is, Miss America' and thinking to myself, 'You did it.' And that's when my heart melted."

Shields also remembers the chaos after the pageant when she got to see her family -- in addition to mom Karen, dad Todd Shields is dean of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the UA and she has one brother, Dane, 19 -- and her preliminary pageant director, Robyn Ledbetter.

"Everyone was so giddy. Getting back to the Miss America suite afterwards was one of the happiest moments for me. ... I was so thankful I had the opportunity to thank everyone for the countless hours they have poured into my life. It was also filled with many hugs!"

"She entered her first pageant because she wanted to dance," her mom remembers. "She liked to perform. And it just kind of went from there. I liked that it challenged her, made her learn how to interview well, made her think on her feet."

Shields was a one-hit wonder in the Miss America Pageant system.

"I was 13 when I was Miss Arkansas' Outstanding Teen," she says. "And I couldn't compete for Miss Arkansas until I was 19. I realized how hard [being Miss Arkansas] was and wanted to wait until I was emotionally, spiritually and mentally prepared."

In July, she represented the Miss Heart of the Ozarks Pageant at the state event -- and won the Miss Arkansas title on her first try.

In September, she won it all -- including $50,000 in scholarships, a six-figure salary and a chance to spend a year traveling the U.S. and abroad, dancing -- "If I could sing I would, but sadly that is not my in skill set" -- laughing -- which she does a lot -- and speaking about her personal platform, "Eat Better, Live Better." She says it "aims to educate people on how the foods we eat really make an impact on our lives as a whole."

"I grew up in a very healthy home, then went off to college -- a world of free ice cream and pizza," she says. It wasn't the "freshman 15" pounds that got her attention but rather "growing sick and tired of being sick and tired." She wants to convince people that $2 will buy a bag of chips -- after which, you'll still be hungry, she says -- or a bag of apples, which will be food for more than a day.

"Hopefully I'll be able to enable and promote healthier lifestyles in America," Miss America says. "Whether I am leading by example or actually teaching people tangible ways that they can incorporate healthier living into their lifestyles, I'm excited to have this platform that the title brings, and I can't wait to see where it takes me."

Asked what she wants people to know about her, Shields says, "that I am the exact same girl on stage as I am off. If you see me in an airport or at an appearance, please come up to me. I would love to meet you and hear your story. I love people, and I am so excited that I will get the opportunity to meet so many people that I would not have the opportunity to without this organization."

She's always been that way, mom Karen says.

"She never meets a stranger. She always makes that person feel like the most important person in the room -- because that's how she feels. She's always been very sensitive to other people's needs. And she was brilliantly smart," Karen continues. "We gave her math books for Christmas because she wanted to do math problems.

"She was always very artistic, too. I remember doing painting after painting and craft after craft. I even remember one day I came outside and she had painted her brother from head to toe with watercolors!"

After her year in the spotlight, Shields wants to finish her undergraduate degree in art at the University of Arkansas and go on to a master's program.

"Because of the Miss America Organization I can now graduate college debt free," she says.

"I'm thankful for the scholarship. For the sponsors. For the volunteers. And for the people who got me here. I would not be the Savvy I am today if it were not for my family, my friends, my dance teachers, the random notes of encouragement, the quick hugs, and all of the smiles that have come my way. I am so thankful."

Becca Martin-Brown can be reached by email at [email protected].

NAN Profiles on 09/25/2016