Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College (SKCTC) recently crowned a new Miss Southeast, nursing student Leah Catherine Evans. Originally from Wallins Creek, Evans says that winning this title is “truly an honor.”

Evans embodies the spirit and mission of Southeast. Her main goal in life, she says, is “to help others.” Leah plans to further her education at the University of Kentucky and earn her credentials as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. She also wants to be a foster mother and to deliver much needed medical care to poverty-stricken countries.

The Miss Southeast Pageant is coordinated by the student affairs department on the Cumberland campus. According to organizer Shana Lewis, the pageant has been a college tradition since the early 1980s.

“These young women are the cream of the crop,” says Lewis. “They have stellar academic records, and they are talented and community conscious.”

For her talent, Evans played on the piano “My Heart Will Go On,” the theme song from the motion picture Titanic. In her spare time, Evans enjoys four-wheeling, zip-lining, hiking, running, yoga, playing the piano, reading and going to church.

As Miss Southeast 2019, Evans looks forward to representing the college at the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival in May, calling it a “sacred tradition.”

In closing, she says, “I am thankful God gave me the opportunity. Without Him, I wouldn’t have been able to do this.”