"Everything Crowned"

Auburn University senior Abbie Stockard is still in a state of shock when she thinks about being crowned Miss America 2025.

“When they got down to three people standing, I was like, ‘holy moly, what is going on?’” recalled Stockard.  “Then they called my name.  It was at that moment my entire life changed.” 

This past January, the 22-year-old Vestavia Hills, Alabama native beat 51 contestants to become the 104th Miss America.  Stockard began entering pageants as a freshman at Auburn with hopes of earning enough money to pay her way through college.

“It really all started because I was looking to relieve a financial burden and get some scholarships,” said Stockard. “Then I found out I just loved the Miss America organization and everything it stood for.” 

The Miss America program has been around since 1921. It allows participants to acquire lifelong skills, cultivate service initiatives and engage within their communities.  Miss America’s four pillars are style, service, scholarship and success – attributes Stockard takes to heart.  

“I think people really value authenticity, and they like someone who is just going to be real and relatable and not this perfect pageant queen,” said Stockard.

Stockard is the fourth Alabama woman to win Miss America and the first in 20 years.

“It's nice for little girls to look at Miss America and know it is attainable,” said Stockard. “Hopefully, I'm a good example of that.”

Stockard will spend the next seven months traveling the nation inspiring women and advocating for the American Heart Association’s Go RED for Women initiative along with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. She serves as a National Brand Ambassador for Cystic Fibrosis (CF), using her platform to bring hope to the more than 15 million Americans impacted by CF.

“My best friend Maddie was born with this disease and currently there is no cure,” said Stockard. “Growing up, I saw the devastating effects this disease took on her physical and mental health, and I made a promise that I would do everything in my power to fight for her and for others who have CF.  Being Miss America has opened so many doors.”

After Stockard completes her reign in September, she plans to return to Auburn’s College of Nursing this fall to finish up her degree. Her goal?  Make a big impact in the medical field.

“I grew up in a medical family, so I knew it was something I was always interested in,” said Stockard. “When I started competing in pageants, I found out that I have a heart for service. I truly have the most fulfillment when I'm giving of myself to others, and being a nurse, you're doing just that.” 

Thanks to winning nearly $90,000 in tuition scholarships, Stockard will graduate from Auburn completely debt-free.

“My dream is to get one-to-two years of critical care experience in the ICU and become a pediatric nurse and ethicist,” Stockard explained.

Stockard says her experience as a student at Auburn helped prepare her for the demanding role of Miss America.

“Work, hard work – it all ties back to Auburn for sure,” said Stockard.

Want to experience Stockard’s journey as Miss America 2025?  Follow the official Miss America social media channels on Facebook and Instagram.  Visit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation website to find your state chapter and a list of fundraising events planned for this year.

Check out our "Everything Auburn" Podcast website here!

Transcript

0:06

Hey everybody, welcome back to the Everything Auburn Podcast. It's Dalton Odom and my co-host Carter. How are we doing Dalton I'm doing great. How are you? You know, I'm I am thrilled to be here once a gain in the WEGL studio doing a podcast, sitting down with you and another special guest live from the Melton Student Center. It's kind of insane that we get to do this. Truly just a full circle moment. I don't know why they trusted us, but they did. They gave us a key. Actually, the door was wide open. But I mean, no one stop. No one stop this. It's fine. So you're back again. So excited to be here. So we have a very special guest with us this week. Miss America 2025. Abbie Stockard, Abbie, how's it going? Hey, guys. I'm happy to be here. This is so exciting. Welcome to the podcast. Our first sash has made it on the on the podcast. Yeah, you all seem like two pretty cool dudes. So I'm excited to hang out with y'all for a little bit. All right. Job done. Job done. Thanks for watching. Join us again next month. Come back next time. Welcome. This is so great. Glad to have you back on campus in Auburn. Congratulations. Thank you. What a happy to be here. What an incredible ride. I can imagine the last few weeks have been. Yeah, it's been crazy. I mean, it's only been a month, and I feel like I've been all over the place. I was crowned in Orlando on January 5th, and then from there, I've already been to New York City twice. I've been to Washington, DC for the inauguration weekend. Never thought I'd be there for that. I've been to Dallas, Texas. Utah did a little performance with the jazz dancers. I went to New Orleans, and the next week I'm actually flying out to Beavercreek, Colorado to attend to attend a cystic fibrosis fundraiser. Oh. That's awesome. And it's only going to get busier from here, but I've been counting down the days till I got to come back to Auburn. I haven't been here in months, and so it's honestly been probably one of my favorite memories so far. Getting to reunite with my Auburn family. I'm glad. And then I understand. You also get a chance to reunite with your former team and Auburn here, and you got to do a little performance as well at a basketball game last night. Yeah. So I got to dance at the Tiger Paws, and it was an absolute blast. So when I was a Tiger Paw last year, I mean, I'm, I was going into my senior year and I had no clue that all the things I did last year were going to be my last. And so that's why last night was so special, because it was kind of like closing this chapter in my life, because I never knew that was going to be my last basketball game and how iconic it is to come back, first of all, as Miss America, but then to dance for the number one team in the nation. So definitely a memory that I will cherish forever. Just checking things off the bucket list night. Literally. Yeah. So Abbie and I had overlap when I cheered and then Abbie dance. So I know how important that closure is, so I'm glad you got to experience that. But you also were just talking about cystic fibrosis. And I know that that is kind of your the platform that you're, working on this year. So tell us a little bit about about that. Yeah. So a lot of people don't know this, but when you compete in the Miss America organization, every contestant has to have something called a service initiative. And it's basically anything that you're passionate about. And so I chose cystic fibrosis as my cause. My best friend Maddie was born with this disease. Currently there is no cure, and it is a genetically inherited, life threatening and chronic disease. And she's actually a student here at Auburn or even talking about rooming together next year when I come back. But growing up, I saw some of the devastating effects this disease took on her physical, but also her mental health. And I made a promise that I would do everything in my power to fight for her and for others who have CF. It's been really cool. I mean, being Miss America has already opened up so many doors. I had a call with the CEO of the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation a couple weeks ago, and they're going to help implement me into a lot of their, like, advocacy initiatives across the nation this year, which will be really cool. And what's so rewarding is that, you know, I think a lot of people think being Miss America is about just like wearing a crown and looking pretty, and it's just so much more than that. And so I'm excited to hopefully break those stereotypes. But also continue to expand awareness about CF because a lot of people don't know about it. And like every single appearance, I've had, at least one person come up to me like crying because they know someone that passed away with CF, some people, siblings, their best friends. And so how cool is that that we get to shed light on this disease? Yeah, I think it's a thing that Dalton and I, we've, we spoke to a lot of guest on this podcast before, and a lot of what people talk about is we talk about Auburn Family and all. It's is helping people. And it's just it's nice that you have a platform and that it's not. It is not just wearing a crown and being pretty and is like, I'm going to take this chance that I have and I'm actually going to do something with it, which is so cool. And it goes back to so many things. We've talked about why we love Auburn. So that's kind of built into Auburn people. And it's it's incredible to watch somebody with your platform be able to do that and make so much good in the world. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Well and then but I do know. So I have a little bit of a behind the scenes that we actually got this I was on a video shoot with you yesterday. So I got I had our moment, I got, I got to hear a few things already. So I've already got some I've heard some things already. But Dalton and I like to have a good time here. I love it, you know, we like to have some good fun, not take ourselves too seriously here, you know? Never. And you said something yesterday. Oh, boy, that truly cracked me up. Oh, God. And I know what you're going to say, I think, and I just wanted to ask real quick. Are you the real Miss America? I knew you say that I am the real Miss America. This isn't just cosplay. Yeah, I get asked at least once every single appearance if I'm the real Miss America. And I told him I'm going to tell someone. No, I'm just. I like to dress up and my crown and sash. I was at, in Daytona, Florida, attending a motorsport event and like, at least five people asked me that. And I was like, why what? I attend this event with a crown and sash on my head. If I wasn't the real Miss America here, I, you know, but people are just going to say what they want. I'm I'm starting to realize, yeah, you know, that it happens. I do think it's another thing I was thinking about this morning. I was walking into work. How crazy it is that, you know, you've you've signed autographs, Tiger. Like, there's so many things you've done. There's like, sign some poster stuff, but you went to like, ludicrously famous almost overnight and like what? And I just it's so curious what it's like in your experience to have witnessed like gone from you could walk in any room and be relatively anonymous anywhere in the world. And now I would imagine that's not as common of a thing, especially when you're wearing a crown, I'm sure. I mean, yeah, if I'm being honest, I don't really think it's hit me like this. Fame. Honestly, I don't know if people would recognize me, but when you put the crown and sash on, people are fiends. Like they. They come out of every which way. Like, people will like. Grab your shoulder, your arm. Like, don't expect to have a conversation with anyone because you're going to quickly get pulled away. But I mean, maybe as the year progresses and I travel more, I'll I'll be recognizable without the crown and sash. We'll see you get used to it. You perfected the quick autograph. I think it's best case scenario because, you know, some people say they don't like being in the spotlight and having fame and like, they want to go back to be a normal person. But I get to do that like I get to be, you know, what you're calling famous for a year, and then I'm just going to be a normal student back here at Auburn. So I think I get to experience both sides of it. That's incredible. It does make me think. Another thing I wanted to ask as well, though, like you just said, in a year from now, job's done. Yeah. Which is so crazy to think that's good. I mean, you're already a month in. Is there anything that you have that you've thought about that 11 months from now? Well, actually, I should have mentioned it mentioned it's only seven months from now. It's only seven months for like, oh my gosh. Oh wow. Yeah. So it was in January of this year and they moved it back to September. Oh I know, but don't feel bad because I think it's perfect for me because I want to come back to nursing school. And if you know anything about nursing, they have a very rigid, oh yeah, structured schedule. And I'm already like, they're already keeping a spot open for me. And I'm being pushed back a semester. But if Miss America was in January, I wouldn't be able to start next semester. And then I think I'd have to wait an entire year. Oh, my gosh, before I could come back. And now that I like, I feel like really old. Now. I know I'm not. But it's going to be weird coming back to Auburn because I feel so far removed a little bit. So I'm very thankful that they're going to like, let me come back and I'll be done with all of my Miss America things, so then I can just come back here and finish up. Wow. Yeah, well, you already just started it. So tell me about nursing school. So what's the career goals? You know why nursing school? Why is that something you want to make sure that you're you're doing? Yeah. So I grew up in a medical family. My aunt and uncle are both physicians. My other aunt's a psychiatrist. My granddad was chief of general surgery. My mom's a pharmacist. So the whole Gray's Anatomy family out there. So, like, I grew I mean, at the dinner table, we talked about some really disgusting things that a lot of people probably couldn't bear, but we did. So I knew it was something I was always interested in. And then, as I started to grow up, and especially when I started competing, I found out that I have a heart of service, and I feel like I have a lot of compassion and empathy for others. And I think I truly have the most, fulfillment when I'm giving of myself to others. And, you know, being a nurse, you're doing just that. You're right at the bedside, providing this one on one care to your patients. And now I can ensure that every person I have the opportunity to treat receives the highest and the best quality of care. So my dream is to hopefully get 1 to 2 years of critical care experience in the ICU. And then use the scholarship money. I've acquired over$89,000 in tuition scholarships, so I'll graduate completely debt free from Auburn, and then that'll pave the way beyond that as I hope to become a pediatric nursing ethicist. So we'll see what happens. The crazy thing is, my twin brother is also in Auburn nursing, and he also wants to be a nurse and ethicist. I think that he likes to copy me because I wouldn't want I had to dream before him, but he is going to graduate before me, so we'll see what happens with him. I know he's graduating this spring. I've known you for like 3 or 4 years. I had no idea you were a twin. Yeah, no one knows he flies under the radar. Wow. All right, let me ask the all important twin question. Who's older? Me by one minute. Okay. All right. I mean, you should have known that. Yeah, I don't let him forget it. I love that, but it's funny because he he never really knew the pageant side of me, because that's always been something I kind of did on the side because I was so focused with school and Tiger paws. And then my mom made him come to Miss America, and, like, he just didn't even know what to think of it until my mom, my mom and sister were like, oh my gosh, we're getting all these Instagram follow request. And then he was like, oh my gosh, am I? And then he went and looked. That's what he was finally interested in. He was like, I don't have any. Oh hey, can you go mentioned me on stage next time you're up there. Yeah. Do you tag me in the story? My brother? Super cool. It was funny. And then my little sister's a freshman here in exercise science. So the whole family is going the health care direction. Well how incredible. I know that, like, my sister's a nurse as well. And just from things I've heard from her, and there's like, just knowing what nursing is like anything in the medical field really. Like I think there's just some people that I can't do it. I'd pass out every other day at work. It'd be hard. I'm glad. I'm so thankful there are people that can. And because that's just hard wired, that's not that's not Carter's life, which is totally great. Totally fine. But I'm glad that you and there are people like you that do, because, goodness gracious. Yeah, I really need it. So working in the Office of Communications and Marketing, I think Carter and I can't say we always have the thought of, hey, we work in PR, not the ER. So I'm very grateful that there are people who do work in the ER, Yeah we’re saving PDFs not lives. Exactly. Yeah. See, I before I decided I wanted to come back to nursing, I started exploring other options and I was like, oh, maybe marketing and PR just like y'all are doing. And then they were like, yeah, you're going to have to take all your like prereqs like macro microeconomics, business analytics. And I was like, that sounds disgusting. I don't want to do that. But yeah. So like y'all had to do that and I couldn't do that either. I got a film degree so I didn't have to do anything. I hate that I had to do all of it. Yeah, it's it's not good. It's not fun. So that gave me an answer right there. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's that's what college is for, right? I started in business school and I learned, one thing in business school, I should not be in business school. And that is. That's fine. And then. Yeah, that's why I look at you now. Yeah. And here I am on a podcast. There you go. Love it. Hey, the official university podcast. Someone's got to do it, man. Someone's got to do it. Well, you know, and there's so many, there's so many cool things that you get to do. Mean. Do you have anything? I'm just so interested in your life because it is such a wild thing. Like even early, like in the last month, I've done, you know, so many things, like I eat, you know, I've done laundry like, twice in that amount of time. So I'm like, I'm fit. And, you know. Oh, yeah. Billings. Yeah. That's like the peak for me. You have anything? What's on the horizon for you that you're really looking forward to? You're going to get to go do. So I'm really excited. I'm going to the Kentucky Derby this year. Do you have a hat picked out? Not yet, but it's going to be iconic. Just you can follow me on social media and you can see it. They're going to make sure it's a ten out of ten. But I've been wanting to go, but I could just never make it work with my schedule. And I'm honestly glad it never worked out, because it's just going to be so amazing to go as Miss America. And then there's a former Miss America. Her name is Heather French Heather has one of those, like, boxes at the Kentucky Derby. That's where she lives. And so, we're all going to get to hang out with her and, like, have really good eating, good food. It's going to be a good time. That's awesome. Have you gotten in touch with any other former Miss Americas? I mean, you just obviously mentioned one, but I'm curious what kind of I'm sure there's an incredible group text. Oh, I can only imagine they so many of them have messaged me. And it really is so crazy to me because although I didn't grow up competing in pageants, I watched Miss America every single year with my mom and our dad watching on the TV, and it was some of them that I literally watched when and like as a little girl. They were everything to me. And so having them like message me or sort of following me, I was like, this is just like it just has it hit me that I'm like part of this legacy and like this sisterhood now it's just crazy. But they've all been so sweet and, I'm just very thankful that they they're there for me. And, you know, there's not a lot of women who can relate to this, time in their life, except for about 100 people. So it's very nice having a little community. It's I mean, it's super. I mean, there's only one Miss America. I mean, I can't think of another job. I mean, there's that has I mean, there's only one like, even like there's multiple prime ministers in multiple like. Well, do you know that statistic? Have you heard about it with the Super Bowl? I please enlighten okay. So you're more likely to have a daughter compete at Miss America. Wait. No, wait. Let me start over. You're more likely to have a son play in the Super Bowl than a daughter compete and Miss America. Crazy. Oh my gosh. All right. So that coupled with another thing you said a moment ago which I want to circle back on makes this even doubly crazy. That's first off that's ludicrous. And second off it's even crazier because a minute ago, if I'm not mistaken, you said you didn't even grow up doing pageants, I didn't know. So, how does somebody go from not really doing pageants to winning the pinnacle of of it all? Yeah. I mean, honestly, I think it was to my advantage because I just had no expectations at all. It was more so to just go have fun and get some scholarship money. I entered my first one here at Auburn my freshman year. There's Miss Auburn University, and the winner gets a full year of free tuition. And I thought, you know, how could anyone toward that doubt wouldn't want that. Yeah. So I signed up completely on a whim. To anyone's surprise, I did not win that weekend. No, I was terrible. I was a fish out of water. I didn't know what I was doing. I refused to watch my on stage question. But anyways, I love the experience that I ended up signing up for a preliminary in Birmingham the next weekend. Ended up winning the title of Miss Chabba Valley. And then that's how my journey got started. So it really all started because I was looking to relieve a financial burden and get some scholarships. And then I found out I just loved the organization and everything that it stood for. But I think it's really cool how I was able to step in this position, because I think a lot of girls don't compete because they think you have to grow up doing them in order to do well. I mean, I used to think that I would assume most people until I started their whole life. Yeah, but I think people really value authenticity, and they like someone who is just going to be real and relatable and not this perfect pageant queen. And it's nice for little girls to look at her like me, Miss America, and know that is attainable. Like, I don't have to do all these things to be Miss America. I just have to work hard for it. And I can do this. And I think, hopefully I'm a good example of that. Work hard work. Yeah. How did I beat you to it. This guy. Yeah I did this guy. Yeah. Sorry about it. That's right. All ties back to the Auburn for sure. Does. Certainly does I mean it's it's so it's so apt and so perfectly phrased and it's just yeah that's incredible I, I'm just this whole situation is just crazy. I just can't imagine being the one of one Miss America. That's so cool. And from Alabama. So I understand you're the fourth from Alabama as well, which you know let's go local state here I know put us on the map. Right. What's crazy is, so this woman named Heather Whitestone was from Alabama. She was Miss Alabama. She was crowned in 1995. Ten years later. Deidre downs. Who's from Miss Out West. She was Miss Alabama. She was crowned. And then 20 years later 2025 I'm Crown. Oh America. So seems like so I'm about five so far five. Yeah. So about five have been good for us Alabama girls. I'm, I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious Yeah. And that I was kind of this was the 20th year. Well, what do you know? Well, I think. Let me check my little timer I got on here. We're getting close on time here. But, we did want to go. I want to ask one more thing, which is did at any point in time during your, like, start competing Miss America, like I'm doing this thing. When did you think like this? Or if it ever happened that this would this could be an outcome. Did you ever really believe it? Even even the confetti is falling. You're walking down like, yeah, this is not I'm telling you. I mean, if you watch the video, I'm looking down at my sash reading the words America because I'm like trying to for myself, like, what is happening right now? I mean, I told everyone going into it, y'all, I'm not going to win. My goal is to get the top 11. If I make it that far, I'm going to be so happy and everyone was so adamant about coming to Orlando and all I cared about was making them proud. I just wanted them to know that their money coming was going to be worth it, and I was going to get to do all phases of a competition, competition for them. So once I made it to the top 11, I didn't think I was going to win, but I was like, yes, I've done it. Let's just go have fun. And then, I mean, I was so calm. I've never been that calm in my life. Like I could never talk about unemployment for 30s three years ago. Like, I mean, I don't like is from by the grace of God, words came out of my mouth and I had a statistic to pull from. But, then I was calling the top five. And then, I mean, when they got down to three people standing, I was like, Holy moly, what? What is going on? And then I was holding hands with Miss Texas, and she looked at me and she goes, Abbie you were going to be a phenomenal Miss America. And then they called my name. Oh, I know, I said I get chills because I'm like, how did she know? And then it was at that moment, you know, and then I look out, see my family, they're bawling, crying, and it kind of hit me. What just happened? My entire life changed just like that. I remember watching it like you watch I did well, I did like I remember as me and some of the other like, my former teammates, some of the other charities were watching. And then I texted, sorry, this is so inside Spirit team. I'm sorry to people listening. I don't know, I don't even know what you know. I'm sorry, but I was like some of the other tiger paws and some of the other cheerleaders, and we wrote, like, text back and forth watching. So, just so thrilled. And you're representing Auburn so well in our state. And we're all we're all just so proud. So that's true. It's very true. Well, I think we're just about done here, but I did want to get, you know, you got an exciting seven months ahead of you. If someone wants to. What? What are some of the best ways people can keep up with you, follow you, and get to experience your adventure and journey with you? Yeah, the best way to do that would be all my social media handles. They're all just @MissAmerica. If you want to see my personal journey, you can follow me @AbbieStockard. Or if you want to learn how to get involved, how you can become a sponsor, or maybe even sign up for a local program, you can just search Miss America. Sure. And then, if if, your cystic fibrosis angle, what are some of the best, contacts there? Yeah. So you can just search the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and then you can find your state chapter, and then it has a list of all the different fundraising events that are being put on. May is a big month that cystic fibrosis awareness month. So a lot is happening. Then you can figure out how to donate, how to volunteer, how to sign up, all the things wonderful. Well, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate your as Dalton said, an incredible representative of the University of the state and of of the Miss America program. So just thank you all for having me. We're so happy that you're here. For Dalton, Carter and Abbie I say thank you for joining us. This is the Everything Auburn podcast. You want to hear more from us over here? Just goofing off and being weirdos. We got several more episodes. Go visit our podcast hub or wherever else you get podcasts to listen to more, and we'll be back again next month with another incredible member of the Auburn family sitting right there on this chair. And we're gonna have a good old time. So see you next time. War Eagle! War Eagle! War Eagle! Heck yeah!