Miss Ohio 2015 Sarah Hider revealed to her Chi Omega sorority sisters Sunday that when she was elementary age, she was scared to sing to an audience yet wanted to enter every talent show possible. So she twirled the baton instead.
Later, she competed in the Mansfield-based Miss Ohio Pageant for a few years while attending Ohio University, where she graduated in 2013 with a journalism degree. Hider then took a hiatus from competition, before making one final attempt at the Miss Ohio Pageant last year — not only winning the crown, but receiving the talent trophy as well by singing “Almost like Being in Love.”
The Wooster, Ohio native had almost given up competing, but persevered. Talent counts for the most pageant points, and in the Miss America Pageant as well, where she competed Sept. 13, 2015.
“I knew inside me that I could not let my 8-year-old self down. My 8-year-old self would be so disappointed if I didn’t at least try,” Hider, 24, told more than 110 Chi Omega-Tau Alpha Chapter members and advisers enjoying their annual Spring Banquet inside Walter Hall. More than $6,000 in scholarships and awards were given out to her Tau Alpha Chapter sisters.
Stressing the importance in a young woman’s life of a “be fearless” attitude toward pursuit of one’s dreams, Hider said she didn’t start to sing until her freshman year at Wooster High School while trying out for and receiving the part of Sally in the musical “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.” As she prepares to give up her Miss Ohio crown June 18 and re-enter graduate school in June at Kent State University, seeking her master’s in public administration, she reflected on her Miss Ohio accomplishments.
Her Miss Ohio platform, “Women Hold up Half the Sky,” has involved speaking engagements where Hider travels to numerous middle schools and sororities to speak about the importance of gender equality for women and diminishing aspects of society that objectify women. She has also spoken during career events about how young women should seek equal pay in the workplace, including how to conduct negotiations over fair pay with their boss.
Hider, who has been heavily involved in community service and philanthropy work her entire life, also works as the public relations manager for The Village Network. It’s a rapidly expanding mental and behavioral health network serving boys and girls.
A strong believer in social networking, she encouraged her Chi Omega sisters to use social platforms whenever possible, offering there is no longer a clear dividing line between one’s personal and professional lives. Her advice is to let future employers “see the special person you are.”
Kathy Malesick, WOUB’s director of corporate support, and a Class of ’79 Chi Omega alumna, said she enjoyed being one of Hider’s advisers and often wrote recommendation letters for her. The two worked together on Chi Omega’s Centennial celebration in 2013, Hider’s graduation year from Ohio University.
“Sarah is very intelligent and talented, and yet down to earth,” Malesick said. “I think we bonded because she was a journalism student, and so was I.”
Hider made the trip to Athens over the weekend with her mother, Jane, and also spent considerable time with current OU student and Chi Omega Sorority sister Bailee Mayne of London, Ohio, a sophomore majoring in Nutrition. The two have known each other since their childhood days in the National American Miss pageant. Mayne, 20, is considering future entry into the Miss Ohio competition.
“Sarah has always been a great role model who has inspired me to push harder to reach my goals,” Mayne said. “She is truly the epitome of what a Chi Omega should be.”
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