Mr. & Miss Panhandle State Set for Comeback!

Goodwell, Okla. — 2018 Homecoming week at Oklahoma Panhandle State University Homecoming is jam-packed with fun activities you won’t want to miss! Tuesday, September 18th features the Mr. & Miss Panhandle State Scholarship Contest starting at 7 p.m. in Centennial Theatre.
Hosted by Panhandle State’s Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) and Association of Information Technology (AITP), this event is free and open to the public. Any full time Panhandle State student with 30 or more hours and GPA 2.5 or higher had the chance to compete.
Candidates for both categories are listed including classification, major, and hometown:

Mr. Panhandle State Candidates:

• Cameron Branch, Sophomore, CIS, Ulysses, KS
• Firas Ghazouani, Senior, Mathematics/CIS, Tunisia
• Lukas Holub, Senior, Psychology, Czech Republic
• Jorge Rosas, Junior, CIS/Business Administration
• Sequoia Smith, Senior, Animal Science/Agribusiness, Boyd, TX
• Hayden Ukens, Senior, CIS/Computer Graphics/Business Administration, Hooker, OK

Miss Panhandle State Candidates:

• Darily Carrillo, Sophomore, Criminal Justice, Bovina, TX
• Kaley Conner, Sophomore, Business Administration, Keyes, OK
• Payton Cruzan, Sophomore, Biology, Guymon, OK
• Jerriena Davis, Sophomore, Accounting, Hooker, OK
• Jasmine Estrada, Sophomore, Biology/Chemistry, Guymon, OK
• Alexandria Hamilton, Sophomore, Business Administration, Craig, CO
• Hannah Johnson, Junior, History, Texhoma, OK
• Ivonne Sanchez, Sophomore, Nursing, Guymon, OK

The scholarship competition promotes real world skills necessary to survive life after college and the contestants will be judged on the following criteria: Resume (25 percent) Interview (25 percent) On-stage Question (20 percent) Casual Wear (15 percent) and Evening Wear (15 percent). The hands-on experience of having a formal interview and speaking on a microphone in front of an audience will be preparing the candidates to be successful in the pursuit of a career after graduation.
The winners will receive a $2,000 scholarship and the opportunity to represent Panhandle State University at numerous events throughout the next year.
Miss OPSU has been a historically popular event on campus; the last Miss OPSU was held in 2008 with Shayla Powers (Koehn) capturing the title. Additionally, the last Mr. OPSU was held in 1993 with Steve Martin, current CIS Dept. Chair capturing the title. The idea was presented to bring the contest back through a proposal introduced by 2018 Business graduate, Reagan Higgins. Higgins put the proposal together as part of her capstone class, Small Business Management.
Reagan Higgins reflects on her vision, “I came up with this idea almost two years ago and I never thought it would actually be put into action. This program shows that you can have an idea and with the help and guidance of your instructors and administration, see it implemented.”
While PBL and AITP are the sponsoring organizations of the inaugural event with both Mr. and Miss candidates, Kim Tuttle, CIS Instructor, will oversee the event to ensure sustainability for future events.
Tuttle states, “I am thrilled with the turnout of candidates for this year. When the idea came up, I was immediately sold on the relevance this event and the potential impact for our students. I have been involved with a similar program that promotes academic excellence specifically in young women and I am excited to see both men and women competing for the scholarship opportunity and year of life changing experiences.”
Come out to watch the show tomorrow night!