Miss UCA 2018 Megan McAfee is highly involved on UCA’s campus and loves to give back to the UCA community.
McAfee served as the Vice President of Operations for the Student Government Association, a team leader for the Student Orientation Staff and as the president of the Delta Zeta chapter.
When she started college, she was looking for a group of women who could encourage her, so she decided to join Greek life.
“Greek life is very social and all about service,” McAfee said.
Greek life helped her get involved with the Student Government Association.
“SGA is on the business side of service,” McAfee said. It helped her learn how to accomplish her goals, she said.
UCA senior and SGA Executive President Joshua Eddinger-Lucero served on SGA with McAfee.
“There is probably not a single student on this campus that I admire more than Megan McAfee. The dedication she has to academics, the hard work she puts into everything she does, her commitment to building lasting relationships and her ambition make her someone I aspire to be like,” Eddinger-Lucero said.
SOS taught McAfee the heart behind service. Junior Charles Tang served on SOS with the last two years.
“Megan is compassionate and caring; she really cares about the people in her life,” Tang said.
McAfee didn’t win the title of Miss UCA the first time she competed in the competition.
“I wasn’t the well-rounded individual that it took to be Miss UCA,” McAfee said.
She said the next year she competed, and won, she was more well-rounded.
After spending the last three years heavily involved in different organizations on campus, McAfee is now able to use her Miss UCA position to give back to the community and thank everyone for her experiences.
McAfee obtained her position as Miss UCA by competing in the Miss UCA pageant on
Nov. 10, 2017. McAfee has competed in a total of five pageants.
In most of her pageants, McAfee plays the piano for the talent portion of the competition. She is a self-taught pianist, and started playing when she was 10 years old. She started playing because she saw women in the Miss America pageants play songs she recognized on the piano.
Her favorite part about being Miss UCA is that it allows her to give back to the community.
Her platform as Miss UCA is “Lead to Succeed,” which focuses on leadership, education and development.
“I’ve talked to a couple of elementary classes about what it means to be a leader,” said McAfee. She loves going to elementary schools to read to young students.
One of McAfee’s role models is Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields.
One reason McAfee loves the Miss America organization is because it has surrounded her with women who support her, which is a fantastic confidence boost, she said. Additionally, these women have taught her how to encourage others.
McAfee will graduate in May 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in health administration. She hopes to go to UAMS for its College of Health Administration. Her time at UCA and serving as Miss UCA shaped her into a well-rounded individual who will accomplish great things.
Photo courtesy of Megan McAfee
