Branch Reflects on Friends Made at Miss America, Continues Platform Work

By Kelley Nessler
Hottytoddy.com intern

“They can take the swimsuit away, but they can’t take away the memories that I’ve made,” Asya Branch, Miss Mississippi 2018, said as she reminisced about being under lights on the Miss America stage.

Asya Branch being selected as Miss Mississippi in 2018. Photo courtesy of Asya Branch.

Branch is a Booneville, Mississippi native and current integrated marketing communications student at the University of Mississippi. She dreamed of being Miss Mississippi since she was in first grade, and with hard work and determination she made her dreams a reality in June 2018. She then competed for the Miss America crown Sept. 9 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Although she did not come home with a new title, Branch said she came home with 50 new best friends and sisters by “making incredible memories each day.”

“I began taking initiative in making Miss Mississippi a possibility for myself when I was a senior in high school,” Branch said. “I competed for the first time at Miss Mississippi one month after graduating, being the youngest contestant out of 44 competing that year.”

Part of pageant work comes from building a platform for awareness of a topic. Her platform – Finding Your Way: Empowering Children of Incarcerated Parents, is representative of being the child of an incarcerated parent herself. 

Miss Mississippi, Asya Branch, is a current student in the School of Journalism and New Media. Photo via Instagram.

“I serve as a living testimony that regardless of what life throws your way, you can overcome it and achieve whatever you set your mind to,” she said. “Your circumstances don’t have to define you or your future.”

Branch has made public appearances and been invited to certain events in prisons, something a previous Miss Mississippi has not done before, she said.

She also travels elsewhere around the state, including her favorite – Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital.

“I go once a month and I am always looking so forward to it,” Branch said. “There is no more humbling experience than being surrounded by sweet, innocent children who are sick but not letting it get the best of them. I have made so many friends there and they’re always my hardest goodbyes.”

Branch placed 11 out of 44 in her first attempt for the crown and title of Miss Mississippi in 2016.  Since then, she has different ways of training her body and mind to compete. For example, she has a few rituals during the day of a pageant. Before she sings, she drinks Fiji water and eats a dry mouth lozenge followed by a strawberry cough drop. Before swimsuit round, she would always do either handstand pushups or wall pushups and squats to get her blood flowing, so her muscles would pop. Before an onstage question, she would always pray.

“It’s uncommon that someone that young who hasn’t competed in the Miss America Organization before, make the top 15 in their first year, especially in a state as competitive as Mississippi,” Branch said.

Being Miss Mississippi has opened so many doors that have led to many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, such as competing on the Miss America stage and meeting the President of the United States. Branch has had so much support from so many different outlets including her hometown of Booneville and the University of Mississippi. Lainey Stevens, a longtime friend of Branch’s, travelled to Atlantic City to see her perform live.

“Experiencing Atlantic City for Miss America was truly a historical moment and an experience of a lifetime,” Stevens said. “The travel to Atlantic City was even interesting. Between walking where our founding fathers walked to seeing Asya on the Miss America stage, it was truly an amazing trip altogether.”

Stevens said she couldn’t be prouder of Branch. She explained what a beautiful sight it has been to watch Branch serve the children of incarcerated parents, because she knows how it hurt her in the past. 

“Being Miss Mississippi has been the greatest experience of my life even though I’ve only been doing it for four months,” Branch said. “I am so thankful for the people that care and show their unending love, support, and interest. I love serving the great state of Mississippi. I try my hardest to make everyone proud.”