10 January 2024 , 16:07
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A possible future Top Gun who is also studying at Harvard might be named as Miss America this month.
Madison Marsh has a bright future ahead of her with multiple routes still available to the 22-year-old. Marsh was named Miss Colorado in May 2023, is on a master’s programme at Harvard and is also a U.S. Air Force 2nd lieutenant who has secured a highly coveted spot to train as a fighter pilot.
On Sunday (January 14) Marsh will compete to become Miss America at the ceremony in Florida, with different phases in the event including fitness stages, an evening gown, and a public interview. She explains that pageants are changing as “what being physically fit means to women” becomes more important. "For me, it's great because I need to stay physically fit and in the gym for the military, so it already coincides with pageant training,” she said.
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Marsh was named Miss Colorado in May last year after three years of competing (madiisabellaa/INSTAGRAM)Marsh has wanted to be a pilot and astronaut since her childhood obsession with science, so her parents sent her to Space Camp when she was 13 to meet astronauts and fighter pilots. It was only two years later she began flying lessons after hearing of the United States Air Force Academy, gaining a licence two years after that before she began working towards becoming a cadet.
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It was just before Marsh was crowned Miss Colorado that she was commissioned as an Air Force Officer after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). To top it off she enrolled in a Harvard Kennedy School master’s degree, through the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Civilian Institution Programs.
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The budding pilot has just landed a coveted spot as a US Air Force pilot (William R. Lewis/USAF/SWNS)Competing in pageants was only meant to be an extracurricular activity for Marsh, who said she had a “hard time” finding her identity in a “challenging environment” when a freshman at USAFA. "My cousin had competed in pageants for a long time, and one of the big things about it that I love is the community service aspect and the focus on public speaking."
After three years of competing, Marsh was crowned Miss Colorado in a moment she describes as “very surreal”. She says she is the first active duty officer to represent at the national level of the Miss America pageant.
But Marsh is keen to play down the stereotypes which she believes come along with beauty pageants and those who compete. "The Miss America organisation that I'm a part of now is all focused on what you can provide for the community through your social impact, making sure that you have a stellar resume, that you're good at public speaking,” she explained.
On Sunday January 14, Marsh will compete to become Miss America (madiisabellaa/INSTAGRAM)Marsh’s niche is to talk to young girls about serving in the military, aiming to dispel stereotypes about military women. "In the military, it's an open space to really lead in the way that you want to lead - in and out of uniform. I felt like pageants, and specifically winning Miss Colorado, was a way to truly exemplify that and to set the tone to help make other people feel more comfortable finding what means most to them."
Tragically, Marsh lost her mother to pancreatic cancer five years ago. The high-achiever immediately started a nonprofit with her family aiming to raise money and awareness for pancreatic cancer in the town where she lived. "I'm now trying to take the next step and use my studies from the Kennedy School to learn about the inner workings and the difficulties of what policy really looks like,” she said. "Issues like economic environments and other social pressures that might be inhibiting our ability to implement cancer policies that can affect all Americans."
Marsh enrolled in flying lessons when she was just 15 years old (William R. Lewis/USAF/SWNS)After graduating from USAFA she has received a coveted slot as a pilot in the Air Force - but now needs to decide where her future lies with the world at her feet. “Towards the end of my time at USAFA, I started to realise that my bigger passions were in policy making and cancer research so that's why I ended up at the Kennedy School,” Marsh said.