I had the pleasure of getting to talk with this year’s Ms. WSU winner, Aly Rhoades. Ms. WSU is a pageant put on by the men of Pi Lambda Phi fraternity to raise money for leukodystrophy. 3000 people are affected by this world wide, making it an incredibly rare disease. Over the past two and a half decades, the Fraternity has been able to raise thousands of dollars to help fund research projects through the United Leukdystrophy Foundation.
Aly is an advertising major from Golden Valley, MN. She is a member of the Phi Theta Chi sorority in Winona, and works at Caribou Coffee in Winona. She enjoys being outside, binge watching shows on Hulu, singing, and photography whenever she can. Her friends and family mean the world to her.
Her Campus (HC): How does it feel to be the newly crowned Ms. WSU?
Aly Rhoades (AR): It feels so great to be crowned Ms. WSU, I’m hoping that I can be a big help with fundraising and philanthropy events for the brothers of Pi Lamda Phi because they have so many great causes that they raise money for!
HC: What made you want to participate in Ms. WSU?
AR: I wanted to participate in Ms. WSU because it is a fundraising event for adrenoleukodistrophy and it was something that I had never done before so it was fun to get out of my comfort zone.
HC: How did you prep for the pageant?
AR: The way I prepped for the pageant was by making my duct tape dress with my coach Andy and practicing my song with Shawn who played guitar for me. We also had practices to learn the opening dance.
HC: What did you do for your talent?
AR: My talent was singing an acoustic version of roar by Katy Perry
HC: besides winning the title of Ms. WSU, what was the best part of participating in the pageant?
AR: I think the best part of participating in the pageant was getting close with the other contestants and seeing what great girls they are! I don’t hang out with too many people from the other sororities so it was nice to be able to get that chance and to branch out and meet new people!
Congratulations, Aly!