DVIDS – News – Find her courage in heels and OCPs

EAST GREENWICH, RI – “Often people take pageantry and the military at face value,” said Spc. Alexia Rodrigues, a public affairs mass communications specialist with the 110th Public Affairs Detachment, Rhode Island National Guard. “They see heels and dresses, boots and weapons, but when you look at the way each organization shapes people, they are very similar (more) than most people think.”

On Sunday, May 12, Rodrigues will compete in Miss Rhode Island and compete for the title, Miss Rhode Island.

As a child, Rodrigues never saw himself on stage as a pageant contestant, let alone serving in the military.

“I was a very shy child. I couldn’t look anyone in the eye,” Rodrigues said. “But when I was 16, I got a letter home for the Miss Teen Rhode Island USA pageant and my family thought it was hilarious because I was so shy. They laughed and said, ‘Oh my God, you would never do that.’

So she decided to prove them wrong.

Rodrigues then competed in the 2016 Miss Teen Rhode Island USA pageant, where she not only proved her naysayers wrong, but also herself. Although she did not achieve or win any awards, she left the competition feeling like she had won in more ways than one.

“After the match I made some great friends and gained a lot more confidence from that weekend alone,” said Rodrigues. “I went from petrified and hyperventilating to excited when I heard my family on stage cheering for me.”

Rodrigues said what she likes about pageantry is not the competition, but the sense of community, service and leadership; values ​​that she finds present and promoted within pageantry and the military. From the outside she understands how you can see every organization as complete opposites, but for her she is able to see common denominators between both worlds.

“A lot of people don’t come into the military already resilient or knowing how to lead,” Rodrigues said. “But that’s what the military teaches you, and in the same way, parades teach you how to be courageous, compassionate and lead in your own way.”

Many election systems require participants, among other things, to be civic-minded. They ask for beauty, brains and a big heart. To act as a catalyst to improve their communities.

At the age of seven, Rodrigues was adopted by her foster parents and her experience has made her an advocate for children in foster care. She has created a foundation – Foster Hope, Adopt A Dream – which aims to raise awareness for foster youth, one story at a time.

“I am one of only 27 percent of children who can say they have survived foster care, which is an astronomically low number,” Rodrigues said. “I have committed myself to ensuring that every child is heard and receives the proper resources they deserve.”

Through her nonprofit, she hopes to increase the percentage of children adopted from foster care.

Motivated to make a difference in the world, she enlisted in the Rhode Island Army National Guard in January 2021, where she felt she could find her place, as she did in the world of pageantry.

“(In the Army National Guard) I feel so fulfilled,” Rodrigues said. I really love what I do.”

Rodrigues currently works as a social media manager for the Rhode Island Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion.

Still early in her military career, she plans to complete twenty years of service and has grown to consider many of her fellow soldiers members of her family.

“In pageantry we call it sisterhood,” Rodrigues said. “They are my brothers and sisters in the military.”