Kim Landis

HCM: What organizations are you involved in on campus and what positions do you hold in them?
Kim Landis: I am Station Manager/ President of the Millersville University Television Station (MUTV99) and am a member of the National Broadcasting Society (NBS), where I completed my term as Vice President in November.

HCM: Tell me about Miss Millersville?
KL: Miss Millersville is a fundraising opportunity for organizations on campus.  It is co-sponsored by MUTV99 and the Millersville chapter of NBS.  Organizations must choose a female representative to participate in a Miss America-style contest.  The contest includes a beachwear section, a talent section and Presence and presentation sections.  Beachwear is not the typical swimsuit competition.  Instead, girls appear in costumes relating to the beach, such as hula girls, lifeguards or even sharks.  In the Presence and Presentation section, each contestant must pick a question from a hat and answer the question on the spot. Girls are judged on their creativity, poise and presence on-stage and are never judged on how their looks.  The top three girls will win percentages of the evening’s profits.  Second-runner up will win 10% of the profit, first-runner up 15% and the winner 25%.  All of the contestants get to keep the profits they make from donations and People’s Choice.  People’s Choice is when the girls make a shoebox representing themselves and their organization.  The box is displayed on the night of the event and the audience chooses their favorite contestant by putting money into their boxes.

HCM: How did you get involved with Miss Millersville?
KL: I became co-chairperson of Miss Millersville during its 4th season, back in 2010.  At that point, I was working towards learning the ropes so that I could take over for the chairperson at the time who was graduating that May.  There isn’t one thing in particular that drew me to become co-chairperson.  It was one of those times when someone needed help and I volunteered to do so.   

HCM: What’s your favorite part of Miss Millersville?
KL: My favorite part of Miss Millersville is the talent portion.  Judges critique the girls on their poise, presence and creativity throughout the whole show.  But talent is really where a contestant can stand out, and some of the girls really knock the audience’s socks off with their ability to entertain creatively.

HCM: Why should people get involved in MUTV & NBS?
KL: People should get involved in MUTV and NBS because they are opportunities for students to get hands-on experience in the field of broadcasting.  Classes can only teach students so much, but MUTV is all student-run, so members are able to learn all aspects of broadcasting from producing, to camerawork, to editing, to anchoring, etc.  NBS is so important because it allows members to network with professionals in their field, which is important because to land a job in broadcasting, its not necessarily what you know, but who you know.  NBS also has media competitions on regional and national levels, which allows members to showcase their work and get critiqued, as well as recognized for their work.

HCM: What’s your favorite thing about Millersville?
KL: My favorite thing about Miss Millersville is two-fold. I love teaching the girls the opening number because I danced from 5 years old until I was a junior in high school, and the opening number allows me to get back to my love of dancing.  My other favorite part has to be the rewarding feeling that I get on the night of the event after months of preparation and hard work.  Miss Millersville can be stressful and overwhelming at times, but to see the show go off without a hitch really makes all that trouble worth it.

Do you have any advice for younger students?
KL: My advice for underclassmen is to work hard at what you want to do.  College can be overwhelming, and many times opportunities will present themselves all at one time.  Take the time to decide what is best for yourself and then really plunge yourself whole-heartedly into it.  If you don’t like something, that’s fine.  Then you live and learn, and move on.