It's not always about being the best, but about being the best you can possibly be. Find joy in the journey.

Turn on the TV or log into your social media account in early September, and you can't miss it. It's Miss America time, and there she is -- the beautiful Miss Alabama! This year the UDA family supported one of their own -- Hayley Barber, Miss Alabama, and a former UDA staff member. 

At age 4, Hayley started dancing and never stopped. In middle school, she joined the dance team and continued her love for dance through high school. Along the way she became an All-American, competed in her state competition, and attended UDA Nationals. Hayley recalls attending camp and the way she looked up to her UDA instructors. She was asked as a senior to try out for staff and jumped at the opportunity. 



At age 16, Hayley competed in Miss Alabama's Outstanding Teen Pageant to earn scholarship money and discovered more opportunities to perform. A year later, she competed for Miss Alabama. Anyone who has ever competed in pageants knows it takes poise, hard work, balance, and discipline. She credits UDA with helping her make better connections and being versatile when teaching multiple types of dancers

I brought all of those skills with me as I competed for Miss Alabama, whether it was getting involved in my community or finding ways to do that, learning and understanding different thought processes as I prepared for interview, or always being prepared as I travel and attend different events.

She also enjoyed still getting to perform dance on stage. Being trained in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, and kick, Hayley naturally chose tap as her talent for pageants since she felt it was her most entertaining style. 



Hayley has created her own platform, Sight for Small Eyes, to help young children receive frequent eye exams and in turn help their learning experience. She says many children neglect to speak up about their vision impairments. With learning being 80 percent visual, children are not getting the full learning experience or performing their best in the classroom. Hayley has spoken to over 5,500 elementary school students about eye exams and provided over 1,275 free vision screenings while designing "3 Tips for Healthy Vision" interactive curriculum for the Boys and Girls Club of America and the Alabama Department of Education. To raise funds for children who are legally blind in Alabama, she has created events for a closed-circuit television (which enhances their vision by up to 79 times) to be given to four children who needed aid in reading on their own, doing their own homework, and acting independently for the first time.

This year, Hayley was crowned Miss Alabama and was able to compete for the title of Miss America. Although she was not crowned Miss America, Hayley did receive $24,000 in scholarship money by earning the Miracle Maker award for raising the most money out of any local contestant in the nation for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. She also won another award for her efforts to promote STEM and her academics and won the community service Quality of Life Award for her platform Sight for Small Eyes. Hayley was surrounded by some of the top women in the nation, had the opportunity to dance on the Miss America stage, and experienced one of the most memorable nights of her life. 


Photo by: al.com

Hayley was not crowned Miss Alabama her first year competing, in fact it took her five years. But with that five years, she was able to earn $95,000 in scholarship money, which will help her graduate from UAB next year completely debt-free. Hayley plans on attended optometry school to continue her work with Sight for Small Eyes and encourages everyone to never give up. She says, "Even if you aren't the best dancer in the room, you can always work harder than someone else. Take the extra time to practice. It is not always about being the best, but about being the best you can possibly be. Find joy in the journey."