From the Main Line to Miss Maine

When Miss America 2.0 is broadcast nationally from the Mohegan Sun resort in Connecticut in December, a swathe of viewers across the Philadelphia suburbs, Bucks County, North Philly and even south Jersey will be rooting for … Miss Maine?

“The Main Line will always be my OG home -- all of my best friends still live there, all their families do, so whenever I come back from Maine, that's where I spend the bulk of my time,” declares 22-year-old Carolyn Brady, Miss Maine 2019 and a proud daughter of the Delaware Valley. “I'm still in touch with some of my Baldwin teachers, my Penn Charter family, my friends from the Philadelphia International Music Festival, so that's always going to be the OG place to call home."

Per Urban dictionary: “OG used to mean Original Gangster but has evolved into a quicker way of saying Original.” Main Line roots or not, Carolyn is embracing the ongoing modernization of the Miss America program while putting her own stamp on every aspect of her role as state candidate to the national competition. Leave it to a Philly girl to liven up the soundbites and power-own the invitation to push the boundaries of an almost century-old celebration of womanhood.

Though Carolyn has competed locally, she qualified way up north and went on to become the first-ever African-American Miss Maine because she went to college in the Pine Tree State. "The benefit of Miss America is that you're allowed to compete where you live, work or go to school,” she explains, “I competed for the title of Miss Pennsylvania for two years and then upon graduating Bowdoin College (Brunswick, ME) this past spring I knew that I’d be working full-time in Maine, so it made sense to compete (t)here.”

In addition to her many appearances in the role, she serves as an AmeriCorps member through the LearningWorks Aim High Program in Portland, mentoring and tutoring students who need extra help to reach grade-level expectations in math and literacy, while holding down part-time jobs in retail and teaching spin classes.

She also carves out time for music practice. Carolyn’s talent segment on the Miss America stage will be a performance on a decidedly OG instrument: the violin, which she started playing at age 5 and continued during summers at the prestigious Philadelphia International Music Festival at Bryn Mawr College. She credits PIMF -- whose faculty include members of the Philadelphia Orchestra -- not only with refining her musical skills and technique but for lessons in goal setting, making life connections, and real-life examples of mentorship. Carolyn put all those skills to work on her path to representing her adopted state at Miss America 2.0.

“It really is the case that you meet the friends that you have for life at PIMF.” Carolyn says. “And the faculty will help you with whatever goal you choose to pursue, it's only a matter of you identifying that goal and choosing to go for it, without comparing yourself to others. I probably would not have stayed as committed to my instrument if not for PIMF but going back every year really kept me motivated to continue to grow both as an instrumentalist and a person.”

While classically trained, Carolyn’s violin performance won’t be a classical music piece, but a rock/Broadway composition. And her chosen social impact initiative reflects a bold move away from the controversy-free causes usually embraced by Miss America candidates, too.

“My social impact initiative, entitled ‘Immigration Builds Our Nation,’ seeks to highlight the contributions of refugees and asylum seekers and how immigration ultimately makes our nation stronger,” she explains. “It’s a political issue that requires people to think, but in a way that isn't usually highlighted in the media and government as a whole. It’s almost entirely focused on immigration from a humanitarian perspective. So if you’re escaping a country, say, in central Africa, because of a civil war, and you come to the United States, more often than not we as Americans do ourselves a disservice by not understanding the difference between somebody illegally crossing a border, and somebody escaping an unsafe situation for which they are pre-vetted under United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, allowed to come into this country and how we can be more welcoming and accepting based on that situation.

“It may not necessarily be the same kind of social impact as my fellow candidates, but it could inspire a similar outpouring of love and compassion in the same way that you would automatically support finding a cure for childhood cancer or more acceptance of people with autism. Why can't we have that same kneejerk reaction for people escaping unsafe or dangerous situations? I think we can.”

And why can’t a Philly girl repping the northernmost point of New England walk away with the Miss America crown? We think Carolyn can.

We find out December 19.