Hometown Miss America Says Title Win Was 'Baptism by Fire'

Farmington Hills native Kirsten Haglund may not have set out to become Miss America, but in 2008, that's what happened. 

Five years later, she is living and working in New York, still involved in her pageant platform: raising awareness about eating disorders. 

In 2006, at age 17, Haglund won the first pageant she entered, taking the title of Miss Oakland County to Muskegon and the Miss Michigan pageant.

"At 18, I was the youngest girl competing at Miss Michigan," she recalled. "I looked up to the other girls, who were all three or four years older and who had competed before. My initial plan was to go hang around those girls and learn from them." 

She learned well enough to take home the Miss Michigan crown in 2007 and the national title. After her win in Las Vegas, Haglund traveled 20,000 miles, spreading the word about the Miss America program and her platform. In 2009, she formed the Kirsten Haglund Foundation, which provides scholarships to support young women and men in treatment.

Her Miss America experiences included everything from the inauguration of President Barack Obama to accompanying seriously ill children on a dream trip to Orlando, FL, through pageant partner Children's Miracle Network. Every step of the way, Haglund had to be conscious of her role in representing the program. 

"It was really a baptism by fire," she said. "It encouraged me to develop confidence and speaking skills. I learned to stay strong under criticism. You have to just learn how to have a tough skin."

This month, Haglund celebrates the first anniversary of her marriage to Ryan Smith. She is a spokesperson for Timberline Knolls, a residential treatment facility, and has appeared on national talk shows to discuss not only pageants and eating disorders, but politics as well. 

"It's neat to be called upon as a young person to share political commentary, not just being a talking head, but discussing the effect what's going on in the political world has on young people," she said. "I wish more young people would be interested in the political world."

Haglund's latest projects include a blog she launched in June and a book on eating disorder recovery and her Miss America story. She admits there is one aspect of the pageant that she does not support. 

"Looking back, I don't think the swimsuit has anything to offer," she said. "I don't think it's a great thing for young women. I think we have to be cautious about body image."

Still, Haglund said she is grateful for the opportunities and the scholarships that allowed her to complete her education this year at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. 

Being Miss America, she said, "was a very empowering experience ... there were so many incredible moments." 

Learn more about Haglund's work at kirstenhaglund.blogspot.com or kirstenhaglund.org. You can also find her foundation on Facebook.