Miss All-America City spreads message of resilience
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
At the age of 7, Hartsville’s Miss All-America City Danielle Cottingham suffered a serious – and scarring – injury to her face. Though the accident left her with a lingering q-shaped scar, it did not damage her confidence or self-esteem; in fact, the injury only galvanized her mission to spread a message of resilience through her pageant career.
“My platform for Miss South Carolina is called “Bounce Back,”” says Cottingham. “It is all about story telling and begins with my story: at 7 years old I was run over by an all-terrain vehicle, resulting in me having to get 40-plus stitches in my face as well as plastic surgery. Thanks to my amazing support group (parents, family, teachers at school, etc.), I learned how to bounce back from this tragedy, and became resilient. I learned how to cope with the event, still have self confidence, and continued to have a positive self image and overall outlook on life.”
Danielle initially began sharing her story and views by creating a blog about resilience, which can be found online at www.bouncebackwithdanielle.tumblr.com.
“While researching the steps to developing resilience for my blog and to begin conversation in the community, I came across the process of journaling. I felt like this would be a perfect way to not only better promote my platform in the community, but to also make a larger impact. I felt that journaling would be a great tool for people dealing with tragic circumstance and hardship in our community,” Cottingham says.
She then teamed with the United Way of Hartsville and executive director Joann DeLong to distribute paper journals so others might experience the cathartic benefits of expressing their stories and feelings in written form. Danielle says the United Way seemed like a natural collaboration to get the word out.
“Ms. DeLong comes in contact with so many different people and their stories. I’m proud to say she was just as excited about the project as I am, and agreed to being the point of distribution for the journals,” says Cottingham.
“After gaining that partnership, I realized that a place where I love to volunteer, Morningside Assisted Living of Hartsville, could also benefit from this journal project. I dropped by Morningside and donated a few journals to the director for any specific residents they felt could benefit from journaling. Additionally, I have given out some journals as door prizes at different events which I have either given presentations on resilience, or my journey to Miss South Carolina.”
All journals contain information about building resilience, and instructions on how to journal effectively. So far, Danielle has purchased all the journals that have been donated, but she is currently seeking a journal sponsor for this project so that she can increase its impact and reach in the community.
A Hartsville native, Danielle is currently a junior in the Honors Program at Coker College, double majoring in history and vocal performance. She is a 2015 graduate of Hartsville High School as an International Baccalaureate Diploma recipient.
Cottingham says she chose Coker because she participated in the PULSE program, and began taking music classes at Coker in 10th grade.
“This early introduction to classical solo singing pushed me to become a professional vocalist. Had I never developed resilience in life, I probably wouldn’t have become so comfortable constantly being on stage!” says Danielle. “I got involved in pageants because I saw it could provide me with more performance opportunities, scholarship money for school, and opportunities to serve my community.”
If your church group or civic organization is interested in having Hartsville’s Miss All-America City visit for a speaking engagement, or if you wish to make a contribution to the Bounce Back Journal program, email Danielle Cottingham at missallamericacity@gmail.com.