Miss South Carolina Visits Easley Rotary

There was a special visitor at the Easley Rotary Club's meeting Tuesday.

Ali Rogers, Miss South Carolina 2012, visited Easley Rotarians and told stories about her experiences representing the state. 

Rogers was crowned Miss South Carolina in July 2012.

“She's competed in five pageants and won four of them,” Terry Garrison said.

Garrison said Rogers has been traveling around the state .

Her work is similar to the Rotarians and their credo, Garrison said.

“Service above self,” he said.

Rogers clocks about a thousand miles a week as Miss South Carolina.

“I burn a lot of rubber, use up a lot of gas,” she said. “I have the most incredible job as Miss South Carolina,” Rogers said. “To be able to translate my values and how I was raised into my job as Miss South Carolina, it's the most rewarding part of this job, to be able to express my faith and who I am, not just as a pageant girl, but someone who comes from a Christian family with good values and good morals. To be able to put that into use as Miss South Carolina has been my best asset this year. I'm truly blessed to have the opportunities that I've had.”

Her personal platform is “Making a Difference for Children with Disabilities.”

Meeting those she advocates for has been the best part of her reign, Rogers said.

“I get to go hang out with these awesome kids,” she said. “They don't make me wear makeup or high heels either. It's a win-win.”

She grew up with several children with disabilities, who she calls her “inspirations from home.”

“They all have different challenges,” Rogers said. “They all face different struggles, different disabilities that are supposedly going to hold them back. To be able to work with them and see how they have grown and to rejoice and celebrate with them …. that's the reason I wanted to be Miss South Carolina. The drive that keeps me going day to day are those children.”

She works often with the Meyer Center in Greenville.

“When I come into the classroom of five-year-olds, I'm literally tackled by these kids,” Rogers said. “They don't know that I'm Miss South Carolina. I like that I don't have to be Miss South Carolina to be someone to them. It's a really great feeling. I hope those kids and their families are gaining as much as I am being able to work with them.”

When she was 13, her mother gave her a bracelet.

“It says, 'Make a Difference,'” Rogers said. “I've worn it everyday since.”

She challenged the club to try to make a difference every day.

“Volunteers are what make up the great things in America,” Rogers said.

She recently attended two local proms.

“From January to a couple of weeks ago, I was asked to prom on Twitter about a dozen times a day,” Rogers said. “Saturdays are my busiest days, so I kind of threw the prom idea out the window.”

But Travelers Rest High School students stepped up their campaign.

“They got #Alitakejoetoprom trending on Twitter,” Rogers said. “It takes a lot of tweets for that. I thought my house was going to egged or something if I didn't go to their prom. I happened to be free that night. I was in Florence that morning and drover to Travelers Rest for prom.”

A young man she worked with in special needs classes asked her to the J.L. Mann prom.

“I hadn't been to prom in a couple of years, but it was a blast,” Rogers said.

During her reign as Miss South Carolina Teen 2009, Rogers spoke to over 12,000 students, sharing with them her personal platform, “Teens Against Underage Drinking.”

Her reign is winding down, she has two and a months to go as Miss South Carolina.

Rogers was first runner-up in the Miss America competition.

“Ali, I sort of feel like we're better off that you didn't win, because we got to keep you in the state,” Garrison told Rogers. “We're proud of you.”

He attended the Miss America pageant.

“You talk about a nerve-wracking experience,” he said. “I don't know how it was for her, but I thought I was going to stroke out.”

“It was a great experience,” Rogers said. “It was really refreshing to see what kind of girls are representing our states in the Miss America organization.”

She's earned $63,000 in scholarship funds from the Miss America organization. She is majoring in Communications Studies at Clemson University.

“The Miss America organization is the Number One provider for scholarship money for young women than any other group in the world,” Rogers said. “South Carolina provides more money times four than any other state. We're very proud of that, we do promote scholarship and good education.”

Garrison told Rogers that he was making a $1,000 contribution to the Rotary International Foundation in Ali's honor.

That donation makes Rogers a Paul Harris Fellow with the organization.