Looking into the mirror, Alea Hudson doesn’t just see a pageant queen or college student in front of her. Instead, she sees the dreams of her younger self. A beautiful woman standing before the mirror, one who has worked hard to encourage other girls like her and has done her best to leave the world better than she found it. As she places the crown on her head, she smiles. She sees herself as the beautiful woman she is and knows she has made her younger self proud.
“I just want to go back in time and hug her and tell her, ‘It’s okay. You’re beautiful, you don’t know all of the good that you’re going to do in this world, you don’t know everything that the Lord has in store for you, but if you just wait it’ll all happen,’” Hudson said. “Now, looking back at that little girl and seeing her and knowing how I felt then compared to how blessed I am now-how much more confident I am with myself and how my self-esteem has grown-I just feel beautiful when I look in the mirror. I think that’s what it is all about.”
Hudson, a junior at the University of Southern Mississippi studying mass communications, started competing in pageants in sixth grade during a time when she struggled a lot with her confidence and mental health. She did know what she was doing when she competed in her first pageant, and even though she didn’t win simply competing lit something inside her. That decision would lead her down a path of sparkles, both from the jewels in her crowns and the stars in the eyes of young girls that look up to her.
The first pageant sparked a seven-year run of competitions at the state, local and school levels. During those years, Hudson faced what she called her “not yet” moments throughout her pageant career. After a competition in her senior year broke a five-year winning streak, she was so heartbroken that she decided to stop competing and focus on school. Still, the fiery passion for pageanting never fully went out.
“Just being this little girl who knew nothing about pageants to now getting a chance to represent a school of almost 50,000 people is just such an honor,” Hudson said. “If you were to tell her [her sixth-grade self], that she would be Miss USM, she’d call you crazy.”
Even after quitting pageantry, Hudson still dreamed of one day returning to the stage. She had thought about entering the Miss USM pageant many times but always turned it down. It wasn’t until a few weeks before this year’s pageant that she felt a pull to apply.
“When I found out that we had a Miss USM and I was like, ‘One day I want to walk that stage, I want to be Miss USM,’” Hudson said. “I was so emotional during my crowning because I went from being this kid who didn’t even know if I was supposed to be here to now being able to represent USM on the Mississippi stage, so it was very surreal.”
When she first heard her name called, Hudson thought it was a mistake. She had not expected to be crowned, especially after a week full of setbacks leading up to the pageant. Half of her pageant wardrobe was still at her parents’ house. She discovered she had strep throat on Monday, which caused her to miss multiple rehearsals. The finally waking up the morning of the pageant having lost her voice. She spent the morning trying to get her voice back with teas and remedies, all while barely having time to practice.
Hudson thought she might place, but she did not expect to win, especially with the talented and beautiful girls that she was next to on the stage. Hudson stated that she would have hated to be one of the judges as every single girl on that stage was more than worthy to take on the title of Miss USM. “Feeling a sense of, ‘Finally’ I guess. After all of these ‘not yet,’ wanting to win this pageant and like feeling like I didn’t work hard enough and just having that crown put on my head just finally feeling like I did it,” Hudson said. “And I just remember my eyes just welling up with tears and just crying.”
For the talent portion, Hudson performed a spoken word piece titled, “In the Making of a Women,” focused on womanhood. She connected the piece with her community service initiative, “Dreams Within Reach,” through the interview portion. Hudson believes her overarching theme of womanhood and her strong public speaking skills helped her secure the crown.
“I closed it out with, ‘When a girl realizes her dreams are within reach, she doesn’t just change her life she changes the world around her,’ and I walked off that stage feeling like I nailed it,” Hudson said. Her platform, “Dreams Within Reach,” aims to instill confidence in young girls and encourage them to follow their dreams. Hudson was once told she couldn’t achieve her goals and that her dreams were too big. Instead of listening, she chose to take her dreams to another level.
“I just always wanted to inspire young girls, especially young girls who looked like me to follow their dreams no matter what,” Hudson said. “I was that girl who was once told my dream was too big, my voice was too small, so now having been that young girl who was told that but also that young girl who was told, ‘You know, baby you can do it. Who cares what anybody says.’”
Her initiative began in tenth grade, when she ran for student council president and gave a speech center on people following their dreams, stating that she wanted to one day be the first female president. When she lost, she felt discouraged; nobody believed in her, not her classmates, friends or even herself. But her grandmother did. That day she a wildfire in her heart, with her grandmother’s encouraging words, Hudson set out to show young girls like herself that they can achieve any dream that they set their mind to.
“I feel the need to serve as an inspiration to not just young girls, but young girls who look like me, young girls who might feel like their voice is not heard, young girls who might feel like their dream is too big. I want to play a part in making sure that they knew they have someone who believes in them,” said Hudson. “I was put on this world to sow into young girls to serve as an influence to women to show them that this world will constantly knock you down, it will constantly tell you no but no matter what you can do anything that you want to.”
She has used her platform to inspire many girls to follow their dreams, but it would have never been if it weren’t for her grandmother who inspired her first. Her grandmother helped raise her and her sister and always encouraged them to be confident and sure of themselves. It was her grandmother that pushed Hudson to follow her dreams no matter how big they seemed, and every time she was not that she couldn’t do something, her grandmother was always there to reminder that she could do anything she set her mind to.
“Her always telling me that I was capable, I was powerful, I was more than able to do anything that I wanted to was absolutely part of the factor of why I decided to establish Dreams Within Reach,” Hudson said. “I recognize that I was blessed to have that voice in my grandmother but every single girl is not blessed to have that voice.”
Hudson’s parents were big influences in shaping her. They emphasized the importance of education to her from a young age. Hudson watched both of her parents go back to school to better themselves and follow their own dreams. Impressing upon her that knowledge is power and that it is important to never stop learning. It was her family that supported her when she struggled with the dark thoughts and helped her to grown and become the woman that she is today.
“I think that my grandmother would be my number one,” said Hudson. “Just seeing all the good that she did in this world. I remember when she passed the church literally being packed, and it was a big church. Looking around, not knowing half the people who were there but knowing she made a really big impact. I want to do that; I want to one day look back and know that I left the world better than I found it.” Growing up Hudson’s grandmother, would always say, ‘Leave this world better than you found it.’ It was something that was impressed upon her and her twin sister. It has been a constant reminder though out her life and she has worked hard to follow her grandmother’s advice.
Hudson grew up in New Albany. After graduating high school, she attended Itawamba Community College, where she got her associate degree in political science, before transferring to USM with high honors. She hadn’t originally planned to attend USM, but after visiting several schools that didn’t feel quite right, she decided to attend an honors brunch on campus.
Walking out of the Thad Cochran Center with her parents, Hudson felt the pull that she had been missing with other schools. She believed that this was the place for her but still hesitated. Until her eyes landed on the mural that read, “Leave it better than you found it,” the same phrase her grandmother would repeat throughout her childhood. That moment confirmed for her that USM was where she belonged.
The moment I stepped foot here I knew that this was the place for me,” said Alea. “So the first time that I came here, growing up my grandmother always told me and my twin sister to leave this world better than we found it so like I was leaving the Thad after the brunch and everything knowing that this was where I was supposed to be at, but was still kind of on the fence I guess… and seeing the mural that says ‘Leave it better than you found it.’ I was like okay, so this is absolute confirmation where I’m supposed to be at.”
Since arriving at USM, Hudson has quickly become involved on campus. She is a member of the Student Eagle Club, a Keystone Scholar, vice chair of the of the election committee with SGA and the future vice president of analytic relations for her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. Though she initially struggled to adjust and find a community here, she soon found her place and began to flourish.
“In the few months that I have known Alea, she has demonstrated what it means to be an exceptional woman,” said Victoria Deer, Hudson’s friend and sorority. “Alea does not wait for the perfect moment to go after something; she creates her own opportunities and strives for progress. She is the type of woman that embraces whatever life throws her way, whether it be good or bad, and always has a smile on her face. I am beyond proud of what she has and will accomplish, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to call her a friend and sister. “
Now, as the 2026 Miss USM, Hudson continues to grow as both a Golden Eagle and a mentor. She has visited schools across the region to speak to young girls about her platform and recently made her first appearance at the PRCC pageant to watch their own queen get crowned.
Hudson has already begun preparing for the Miss Mississippi pageant, completing all the necessary paperwork, practicing interview questions and working on another spoken word piece. She hopes to have something more powerful, a piece that still captures the overarching theme of womanhood. While she is unsure of what the future holds for her at the Miss Mississippi pageant, Hudson said that if she does not win, she will most likely hang up the heels, stating that this feels like a natural close for her pageant career.
Hudson got her associate’s degree in political science before switching to mass communications with an emphasis on broadcast journalism when she arrived at USM. She served as the editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper, which sparked her interest in journalism and helped her succeed in pageantry. This passion was one that she says helped her to thrive in the world of pageanting. Hudson’s current dreams are to one day become a sports broadcaster for ESPN, but until then she plans to slowly move up the ranks starting with a local school and possibly attending graduate school once she has dipped her feet into the professional world of journalism.
“I think that if there’s any adversity that I face it is recognizing that my path will be difficult but only because my calling is higher,” said Hudson. “And I am willing to take every single hurtle that I have to jump to succeed in the world of journalism because I’m so passionate about it.”
Hudson has been told that she couldn’t accomplish her dreams, that they were too big and that she would never succeed too often. Something that she has chosen to ignore. She is aware that others may look down on her for who she is and the dreams that she has, but she have never let that stop her. If anything, it has only pushed her to want to succeed more.
“As someone who recognizes that typically this world doesn’t like to see people of color succeed or the path is a lot harder for people who look like me, I feel the need to show young girls that they can do anything they want to. That’s actually my platform is for Miss USM, it’s ‘Dreams Within Reach,’” said Hudson. “Dreams within reach actually started without being dreams within reach. I just always wanted to inspire young girls, especially young girls who looked like me to follow their dreams no matter what.”
Hudson has struggled, fallen and gotten back up again. Even when she fails, she knows that she has in her people there rooting for her to succeed, that she has young girls who look up to her as a role model and their inspiration. She has worked hard to get where she is today and to ensure that she has left this world better than how she found it.
“I want to be remembered as that person who always left an impression on people. That person who always made sure that every single person knew they were put on this road for a reason, that person who always told someone you know, ‘You’re dream is not too big, the good Lord has you here for a reason,’” “I don’t want applause, I don’t want accolades, I just want to leave this world knowing that I left it better than I found it.”