Meet the 20-year-old nuclear engineering student from Wisconsin who was crowned Miss America 2023 | Jobs Vox

A Wisconsin nuclear engineering student with a knack for sharing her opinion on ‘hot political topics’ has been crowned Miss America 2023.

Grace Stankey, 20, earned the highly coveted title at the beauty pageant on Thursday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

A resident of Wausau, Wisconsin, she impressed the judges with her beauty and her brain — making it clear that while she loves competing in pageants, her number one passion is science.

The beauty queen is currently studying nuclear engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and often voices her love for the subject on her social media accounts.

‘I am very proud to be a woman in nuclear engineering. It hasn’t been easy, nor has it been a simple path to follow, but it has been worth it,’ she wrote on Instagram in June.

‘I find joy in small things, and when I understand something so small that makes something as big as a nuclear power plant work, it thrills me to be alive!

‘To the young woman, the little girl, the middle school student who wants to be an engineer but is struggling for whatever reason: Remember you are the pioneer in this field.

‘Every woman makes a little more way easier for the next. I am very excited to work with all of you.

When asked by a follower what she’d like to be her ‘legacy’ in July, the self-described ‘nuclear berserker’ said, ‘The best answer I have is a nuclear analogy. I want to be the neutron that is fired at uranium to start the decay process in a power plant.

‘I want to be the person who inspires the next three people to step up and make powerful decisions. I want to be the person who is making a difference to people and influences the generations to come.’

Furthermore, activists often speak out about climate change and how it affects the environment.

When asked by the judges what she would like to use the Miss America platform for, she said she was “excited” to have the opportunity to use her voice in front of an even bigger audience.

‘As Miss America, I know I’m representing this organization, but I’m able [answer questions] and says, “This is not the organization’s point of view, it is my personal point of view as Grace Stanke,” Especially when it comes to nuclear energy and many other hot political topics,’ she said.

Grace, who is also an avid violinist, further impressed the audience during the competition with a stunning performance of the Aaron Sinclair and Antonio Vivaldi track Storm.

Hollywood Life reported that she started playing the instrument at the age of eight, and it helped her discover her love for competition.

She previously admitted that she would get so anxious when performing that she would tremble, and she realized that to overcome her fear she had to do more things on stage – which led her to enter the Miss Wisconsin Outstanding Teen contest. Could

,[Competing] It helped me get comfortable in my own skin,’ she told The Northwestern, reflecting on her journey.

Furthermore, based on her Instagram account, Grace loves water skiing, hiking, and traveling.

She served as Miss Madison for two years before earning the title of Miss Wisconsin earlier this year — and by winning Miss America, she became the third woman from the state to take the crown.

The beauty pageant — which began in the 1920s and ran for 95 years — saw 51 different women face off to see who would be crowned as the winner.

Miss New York Taryn Delaney Smith was voted runner-up, while Miss Texas Avery Bishop came in third.