Bonnie Bolden, bbolden@thenewsstar.com
Justine Ker, 22, loves to make people laugh and smile. She said she has a great sense of humor and enjoys getting to know people and relate with them.
Ker, of Choudrant, is a woman of accomplishment. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in neuroscience from Vanderbilt University. She's been classically trained on piano for 17 years and classically trained on violin for 12 years, and she wascrowned Miss Louisiana on Saturday.
Ker said some people are put off by her resume, thinking she's too different to be approachable, but she's still human. She loves spending time with her family, her friends and her dog. She said she just loves to laugh "No matter where you go or where you're from, a person's a person," she said.
Ker is a first-generation Taiwanese-American and the first Asian-American Miss Louisiana. She also is the first young woman to start as a Fleur De Lis Princess, win Miss Louisiana Outstanding Teen and ultimately be crowned Miss Louisiana.
PHOTO GALLERY: Justine Ker crowned Miss Louisiana
In just two years of competing in the Miss Louisiana Organization, Ker won more than $21,000 in scholarships. In the 2016 pageant, she won the Women in Medicine award, a STEM scholarship, the preliminary talent competition and an instrumentalist award. She played "Fanaisie - Impromptu" by Chopin.
The links between music and neuroscience, she said, are fascinating. Playing music benefits the brain in a variety of ways, including improved listening, time management and thinking skills.
She said she started as a biology major but took a neruoscience class and was intrigued by the mysteries of the brain and how they relate to daily life.
Ker's platform is A Beautiful Mind: Promoting Positive Mental Health. In the past year, she's spoken to more than 5,000 people, including school children, about the importance of good stress management skill, self-esteem and clear communication skills. She spread information both as Miss Louisiana Watermelon Festival and with collegiate groups. Ker plans to use her time as Miss Louisiana to expand the reach of her platform.
She said one of the things she's most looking forward to is working in Children's Miracle Network Hospitals as Miss Louisiana. She's been to some of the hospitals as a local title holder and to shadow physicians.
"Just to see those kids and to see them smile means everything to me," she said. "Some of them are terminally ill, and they stay in the hospital every single day of their lives, and just to have a crown and a sash and to walk in and say 'You are important to me, and I love you for who you are. You can fight whatever it is you're going through." I think even something that small can make a difference."
Ker is deferring medical school at Tulane University for a year while she acts as Miss Louisiana.
"I'm coming home," she said. "Louisiana is my home, so I just had to be here. I wanted to move back, but I've never lived in New Orleans, so this is going to be a brand new experience for me ... but I get to stay in North Louisiana, which is my home-home for just one more year."
Ker will represent the state at the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Preliminaries are Sept. 6-8, and finals will be Sept. 11. Until the national competition, she's in training. She'll be practicing talent, interviews and sculpting her body in the gym.
By the end of this week, Ker will have made several appearances as Miss Louisiana, been measured for her Miss America swimsuit and chosen her gowns and talent number. On July 9, Ker will fly to Washington, D.C., where the Miss America Organization is opening offices. She will meet the other contestants, tour the White House, attend a gala and get social media training.
Debbie Wyatt, a Miss Louisiana Organization board member, said holding the title is a job that requires flexibility and effort, but it can be a lot of fun.
"It's exciting. It's a different busy that what I'm generally used to," Ker said. "It's a good busy."
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Justine Ker crowned Miss Louisiana 2016
Long-term, Ker said, pageants have been about relationships, mentoring, scholarship and personal development. They've shaped who she is and contributed to her successes.
"We need the Miss Louisiana program to offer scholarships for women who deserve scholarships, in my opinion," Ker said.
Wyatt said people who aren't familiar with the organization are often surprised by how intelligent the contestants are and by the amount of scholarship funds the organization offers. She said people realize the contestants aren't just doing it to put a crown on their head or a trophy on their wall, but they're being able to mentor.
Ker started as a Fleur de Lis Princess in 2005 under Mollly Causey, who won the title.
"I was a princess the first year the program started," she said. "I was the first to go through the whole system."
She said over the past decade, she's watched how much each queen has grown during their reigns and how they've each made an impact throughout the state — not only through their platforms but through promoting the mission of the Miss Louisiana Organization.
"I just knew that once I became a teen, it was something that I wanted to give a try, at least once," Ker said. "I've never considered myself a pageant girl. I wasn't too interested in it, but I thought 'Why not? Why not take a chance, do something totally different, step out of my comfort zone?'"
Ker came in second runner-up her first year, and she's still friends with other young women who were in the competition. The bonds the contestants build, she said, are lasting.
"It's been like that every single year that I've been a part of this program," she said. "I've met new friends. I've made incredible memories, and I've become so thankful for how this organization has shaped me into the woman I am today.
"I would say part of my success, not only in school but also in getting into medical school, is due to the experience I've had in the Miss Louisiana Organization."
Ker was Miss Louisiana Outstanding Teen 2011. She said girls she met at that national competition are going to be at Miss America this year.
She competed in Miss Louisiana Outstanding Teen for three years and took four years off to have the full college experience. She has competed in Miss Louisiana for two years. In 2015, she was the first-place runner-up.
This year, she brought four Fleur de Lis Princesses of her own: Sophie Mariano, Katherine Worthy, Cara Beth Hill and Sarah Whitworth.
Sarah Whitworth, Ker said, is the daughter of Miss Louisiana 2003 Melissa Clark Whitworth. Sarah, 5, was too shy to come on stage but spoke with Ker backstage before each competition.
"Basically, she came from a program that was being mentored to now her job is mentoring," Wyatt said. "She'll be speaking to thousands of school-age children this year. A lot of them, I think, she does help them with their confidence."
Ker's mother, Jenevive, said her daughter has a good heart and really appreciates people, showing them respect. Of all Justine's accomplishments, her mother said she's most proud of that.
http://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/local/2016/06/26/meet-miss-louisiana-2016-justine-ker/85824960/
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