Addie Freeman Named Miss Gwinnett County 2023

By Traci Sanders

Seventeen-year-old Brookwood High School senior, Addie Freeman, was crowned Miss Gwinnett County 2023 at the Gwinnett County Fair in the fall of 2022 and will represent Gwinnett County as she competes as one of the youngest candidates at the Miss Georgia Scholarship Competition in June 2023, held in Columbus, Georgia. If she wins this title, she will represent Georgia in the Miss America pageant.

Addie has been participating in pageants since age nine, but did not start competing in the Miss America Organization until age fourteen.

“My mom wanted me to start learning some life skills that I could use in the future,” she said, “so she signed me up for my first local preliminary, which I didn’t win.”

After a few more competitions, she finally won the title of Miss Stone Mountain’s Outstanding Teen. To date, Addie has competed three times in the Miss Georgia’s Outstanding Teen pageant and has also held the titles of Miss Southeast Georgia’s Outstanding Teen, where she received a non-finalist interview award, and most recently as Miss International City’s Outstanding Teen, where she was a semi-finalist for the Miss Georgia Social Impact Scholarship Award and finished in the Top 15. This is the first time she’s competing in the Miss division, and she’s proud to represent her home county and give back to the community where she’s lived all her life.

When many people think of pageants, they envision all the glitz and glamour involved, but Addie shared that the Miss America Organization, the largest provider of scholarships to women, is about so much more than pretty dresses and faces.

“In addition to the cash and in-kind scholarships I’ve won,” she said, “which totals over $62,000, I have grown so much as a person. I’ve gained so many life skills such as public speaking, interview skills, stage presence, as well as honing my natural talents. All these things I can carry into future careers and endeavors in adulthood.”

Addie said that competing in the organization is fun but is also a lot of work and can be stressful at times.

“As a Miss candidate, we each have a ten-minute private interview with a panel of judges where we can be asked anything,” she explained. “Questions can come from our resume, social impact essay, or can be anything related to current events or political hot topics. During competition we must perform a talent, model an evening gown, and answer an on-stage question as an extension of our interview. We also must deliver a twenty-to-forty-second Social Impact Pitch about our Social Impact Initiative.”

Addie chose Juvenile Arthritis (JA), having experienced this firsthand as a child. She was diagnosed with pauciarticular juvenile arthritis as an infant but outgrew it only to develop a different form that didn’t cause her pain but, left untreated, involved potential blindness. She had to take weekly shots of methotrexate – a drug sometimes used to treat cancer patients – for five years and finally went into remission in 2017.

Addie knows her condition could have been much worse and has met others who are experiencing more severe symptoms, which is why this cause is so near and dear to her heart.

“In the United States, 300,000 kids and teens are currently suffering from JA,” she said. “My personal experience with JA is the heart for my initiative, ‘Unveiling Juvenile Arthritis: #kidsgetarthritistoo.’ My mission is three-fold: to spread awareness, raise funds, and support those affected by this painful yet often unseen disease.”

Working closely with the Georgia office of the Arthritis Foundation, she is an active volunteer and was named the Teen Honoree for the 2021 Atlanta Jingle Bell Run.

“One of my favorite things to do is run,” Addie explained, “and I’ve been a member of my school’s cross country and track teams since sophomore year, so my goal is to set up a 5K race one day in all 159 counties of Georgia so I can raise money and awareness for JA.”

When asked what doors she hopes winning the Miss Georgia and subsequently Miss America titles would open for her, Addie replied, “Competing for the title of Miss Georgia, and possibly Miss America, is like interviewing for the job of a lifetime. Being able to continue my advocacy of JA and my partnership with the Arthritis Foundation on a national level would be such a blessing and an honor.”

Addie plans to attend the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and major in speech language pathology, and being Miss Gwinnett County is a plus on her resume.

Congrats again to Addie Freeman, Miss Gwinnett County 2023.

ignoring and blocking and avoiding the communication, all to stop it. Certainly, you want to take the wise and prudent steps to protect yourself.

However, if the outcome that you desire is to maintain a relationship, choosing avoidance with a brief communication gives both parties a chance to be “in the conversation.”

Proactive conflict management. Let it be a way of life.

Barbara Bailey is the co-founder and CEO of The Healing Bridge Foundation.

Conflict Corner Continued from page 10