Miss Mississippi 2023, Vivian O'Neal almost sat this one out. Now she's glad she didn't

If you would have asked her earlier this year, Vivian O'Neal would have told you that she had no intention of competing for the crown at this year's 90th Miss Mississippi competition in Vicksburg.

It would be her fifth time entering the competition, and the Hattiesburg native had other plans this year. Specifically she wanted to focus on completing her master's degree in higher education administration at the University of Southern Mississippi, so she could work toward entering the field.

That degree? She got it. But O'Neal also decided to give the Miss Mississippi competition another shot.

And she's glad she did.

Saturday night's final round of competition culminated with O'Neal standing center stage, fans cheering in the crowd, as she was crowned Miss Mississippi 2023 at the Vicksburg Convention Center. At that moment, O'Neal had tears in her eyes and looked so excited it appeared as if she were about to drop to her knees.

"It still doesn't quite feel real. I don't think it will settle in until I've taken a break and sat still for a moment and realize that this is actually happening," O'Neal said in a Sunday morning interview with the Clarion Ledger. "It's been a whirlwind. It's been the craziest few hours, and I'm so ready to hit the ground running."

The veteran competitor, representing as Miss Pine Belt, and who started her career in such competitions at the age of 14, had almost reached the mountaintop the past two years — finishing in the Top 10 in 2022 and as first runner-up in 2021. O'Neal said those past experiences helped her trust herself even more this time around.

"One of the biggest things was learning how to listen to my gut when it came to preparing for this competition," she said. "I think it's so easy in any competitive environment to get wrapped up in the opinions of other people and the voices of other people, but the name of the game truly is remaining authentic to yourself."

O'Neal shook and shimmied during the talent portion of the competition, dancing to "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by Whitney Houston. She dressed in a sparkling, red dress during the evening gown portion.

Still stunned the morning after, O'Neal said she never envisioned winning the tiara as being part of her story and is lucky to be among "so many inspiring women" who have won and competed in the past.

"I just won the same title that all of these other women that I have looked up to since I was a little girl won, and it just blows my mind," she said.

'The greatest village': Family plays huge role in Miss Mississippi 2023's life and future dreams

In 2019, O'Neal thought up an idea for a nonprofit organization called CapABLE that is focused on educating schools, teachers and students to be more inclusive of people with disabilities.

CapABLE is her social impact initiative, a sort-of community service project that each Miss Mississippi contestant must have. The goal of her nonprofit is to "empower those with disabilities and really bridge that gap between students with disabilities and students without."

But CapABLE is not just an initiative for O'Neal. It is a part of her life.

Her younger brother, Josiah O'Neal, 18, has nemaline myopathy, a rare form of muscular dystrophy that causes muscle weakness in many places in the body. Josiah uses a wheelchair and needs help taking care of himself. O'Neal is seen as Josiah's second mom because she grew up helping him and looking after him. Through that experience, O'Neal learned the many difficulties that children with disabilities can face while growing up.

"I started to take notice at a lot of the disparities when it comes to disability inclusion and accessibility, so that's really what inspired the mission behind CapABLE and what it aims to accomplish," O'Neal said.

So far, the nonprofit has reached 20,000 students in five different states: Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and North Carolina.

Both of O'Neal's parents are also educators, which served as another inspiration to start the nonprofit, as well as her own career in higher education. As the winner of this year's competition, she plans on using the $12,000 she earned in scholarship money to pursue her Ph.D.

The nonprofit consists of two curriculums for teachers to follow to teach students so they can try to use the curiosity — that so often young kids have — toward students with disabilities not in a negative way, but in a way that is both inclusive and relationship forming for everybody.

O'Neal also wanted to somehow connect her passion for higher education with her other passion: disability inclusion. She formed a partnership with the Mississippi Community College Board to develop her curriculums into a seminar so that "those same lessons can be implemented in the lives of college students and campus organizations."

One day, O'Neal hopes that she will become a public speaker for her nonprofit full-time.

"That is the dream," she said.

O'Neal's other endeavors

O'Neal is also an accomplished children's book author. She wrote the first book in a planned series that she created to give more representation to children with disabilities. The book is titled "Josiah's Big Day," and is based on her younger brother.

When O'Neal is not winning competitions and focusing on her nonprofit, she spends time with her family.

"I have the greatest village ever. My Southern Miss family also has been outstanding. I have made some wonderful friendships," O'Neal said. "Anybody who knows me knows that I am a huge family girl. They've all been so supportive."

After donning the tiara Saturday night and all the pictures had been taken, O'Neal's family was finally allowed to join her on stage, including her dad, who she called "the No. 1 pageant dad in not only Miss Mississippi but Miss America."

"I remember when they came running on stage, I said, 'We did it!' because it really was a 'we' effort," O'Neal said. "It wasn't just me by any means. It was a collective effort, so I'm just thankful to have the support of having an incredible family, of an incredible university, of incredible friends, of incredible women who stood behind me on that stage. They've just been so wonderful in supporting me and uplifting me in these past few hours as Miss Mississippi."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Miss Mississippi 2023 Vivian O'Neal Finally Dons the Crown