The grueling seven-month program for Trail Ambassador changed her life, and three years later the royal calling beckons Carley Henniger once again.
The Trail Princess from 2009 is back in the running for royal assent in the 2012 B.C. Ambassador Program in Merritt this August.
Miss Trail dramatically altered her life in a positive way, said Henniger, and she expected no-less with the provincial competition.
“(Miss Trail) definitely gave me self confidence and taught me the value of hard work, and what it means to be in a community,” she said. “So I definitely wanted to be able to mentor the other ambassadors and represent Trail by showing the province what Trail has to offer.”
In order to run for B.C. Ambassador, candidates have to have been ambassadors in their hometowns already, said 20-year-old Henniger.
“There’s 14 candidates this year, and everybody I’m running against has already been an ambassador in their hometown.”
The B.C. program encourages candidates to run their own campaigns in their hometowns, and many of them focus on preparing speeches and talents for the competition in Merritt.
“It’s all pretty much self-motivated,” she said. “We do presentations for the judges and the community of Merritt, and I can explain to them why Trail is a nice place to be—and why I’m choosing to represent the (community).”
Henniger is currently halfway through a degree at UNBC where she’s actively pursuing a double major in political science and international studies, which ties perfectly into the mandate of the program.
The aim of the B.C. Ambassador competition is to nurture provincial leaders of the future, promote and assist with the expenses of post-secondary education and to forge links of understanding and friendship throughout B.C. communities.
She has been working closely with some of the people who guided her through the Miss Trail competition several years ago.
“Bev (Benson) trained me for Miss Trail a few years ago and her and I have just remained very close,” said Henniger. “I’m going back to the people that trained me before, like Michelle Epp and Bev for training in this program too.”
You might spot Henniger promoting her campaign in Greater Trail this summer.
She’ll be raising awareness about her platform, preparing speeches and a dance routine for the talent show, volunteering as well as looking for a summer job before returning to another year of university.
To learn more about Henniger, visit http://www.bcambassador.com/2012-bc-candidates or https://www.facebook.com/CarleyHennigerBcAmbassadorCandidate2012.
You can also show your support for her by voting online at http://www.bcambassador.com/peoples-choice-ambassador.