Fair Contestant -- Paige Leann Pickens

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Paige Leann Pickens is an 18-year-old from Greencastle. She is the daughter of Tracy and Michele and the sister of Erica, 23.

She is a recent graduate of Greencastle High School, where graduated with academic and cumulative honors.

Pickens participated in National Technical Honors Society, track and cross country, cheerleading, Spanish Club, Pep Club and G-Club. She was also a 10-year 4-H member along with a participant in Jolly Juniors 4-H Club, GCC 180 Youth Group and Rebuilding Together.

She plans on attending IUPUI in hopes of becoming a dental hygienist and returning to Putnam County.

Pickens decided to enter the contest to finish her 10th year of 4-H with a new experience and to be involved for her last summer before college.

She would describe herself as hard working, optimistic, spontaneous and her friends and family would say she's animated.

Her hobbies include running, reading, camping and bowling.

The best advice she would give a younger person is, if your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough. Don't play it safe forever and dream big.

The event, which has had the most impact on her life, is when Coach Anderson approached her during school to join the cross-country team.

She never imagined how much it would change her life, not only physically but mentally to make her the person she is today.

The person she most admires is her mother, "because she has had to deal with raising me for 18 years," but in all those years, after all the laughter and the tears along the way, Pickens has realized that she is the woman she can only hope to be.