Alumna Uses New
Platform for Good
Miss Washington
SHE'S PRETTY, OF COURSE, but there’s more
to Miss Washington — 2006 Seattle Pacific
University graduate Kristen Eddings — than
just a beautiful face.
Eddings is the first to admit that people
might need to be “educated” on that point. “I get
a variety of responses,” she says, smiling. “Some
people have said, ‘Wow, I never thought of you
doing something like that.’ Others underestimate
what Miss Washington is all about.”
What it’s about is a position that gives
Eddings, 22, a bully pulpit for what she calls
her “platform.” Last summer, she traveled to
Los Angeles to begin work with the Miss
America organization, where she and the
other contestants were preparing for the
nationally televised pageant in January 2007.
“The experience in L.A. was an eye-opener,”
she recalls. “I wondered about all that
celebrity. But the job gives me another chance
to talk about my platform, from corporations
to schools. It’s a great opportunity.”
Eddings’ passion? Bringing back geography
to the classroom and supporting international
education. “I want to see the lines of communication
opened with more students studying
abroad,” she says, “especially in nontraditional
countries where English is not spoken.”
At 16, she did precisely that. She lived and
studied in Japan, learning to speak conversational
Japanese. “That experience shaped me,”
says Eddings. “It’s a big part of who I am.”
Her other travels include a trip this fall to
India, where she judged the “Miss Tibet” pageant.
While at SPU, she traveled to Sierra
Leone in West Africa, teaching English with a
SPRINT team. “The girls I taught were so
appreciative of the attention,” she remembers.
When her reign as Miss Washington (and
possibly as Miss America) ends, she plans to
join the Peace Corps. “I want to teach girls in
Jordan,” she says. “It’s a progressive Muslim
country for girls’ education.”
After that, it’s off to graduate school for a
master’s degree in international affairs, following
up on her studies at Seattle Pacific. “At
SPU, I thought I’d major in political science,
but I was encouraged to explore international
affairs,” she explains. “I’m so thankful for that
and for my years there. I loved my professors,
my friends. It was a wonderful experience.”
With her master’s degree, Eddings plans
to begin international work in nongovernmental
agencies, learning from the ground up
and on the frontline. Eventually, she hopes to
translate that knowledge into a government
career with her eye on a very big prize: “My
ultimate goal is to become the first female
U.S. ambassador to Japan.”
She wisely admits that these plans are subject
to change, or at least modification. “I
know where I want to be eventually,” says the
reigning Miss Washington, “but I’m open to
how I get there.”
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