Welcome Week and the start of her senior year will have to wait for Nora Andrews. While her classmates are packing for the fall semester at Grand Canyon University, she’ll be packing for the Miss America pageant.
Crowned Miss Alaska in June, the GCU psychology major will represent her home state on the national stage Sept. 6 in West Palm Beach, Florida – an exciting change of plans she credits in large part to the education and community she found in west Phoenix.
“I entered GCU at a time in my life where I was ready to start over, and this community allowed me to,” said Andrews, who grew up in Seward, Alaska, a coastal town of about 3,000 where “everyone knows everyone” and her high school graduating class numbered just 26. “Every once in a while, you kind of need a fresh start, and GCU has helped in that. I think that was really beneficial for me.”
A few years ago, imagining any future at all felt difficult.
At 17, Andrews survived a suicide attempt. This breaking point prompted her to confront her mental health and ultimately shaped the suicide prevention work she now carries into the Miss America organization.
“I was able to adjust my perspective and look at all the things I have to look forward to. I emphasized productivity,” Andrews said. “That’s easier said than done, which is why I want to help educate others in doing it.”
At GCU, that shift in perspective found structure. Psychology courses gave her language for what she had experienced. Christian worldview coursework helped her think more deeply about meaning and purpose. Her job as a barista at Grand Canyon Beverage Company kept her productive. And involvement in student groups and friendships on campus gave her a day-to-day community where she could practice that new outlook in real time.
Pageantry was Andrews’ other outlet, the way she carried that healing beyond campus and back into her home state. She first stepped into local competitions as a high school sophomore during the COVID pandemic, drawn by the emphasis on talent and the promise of scholarship support. Seeking creative outlets to help her mental health, the stage became a platform for her passion to help others through suicide prevention, a crisis that continues to hit Alaska especially hard.
In 2024, the Miss America organization added the HER Story spoken-word storytelling segment as an official talent option for contestants. Andrews’ HER Story, entitled “Love the Snow and It Will Love You Back,” was a standout moment during her crowning day at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus in June. The Miss Alaska title comes with a $2,000 scholarship she plans to use at GCU and a four-year tuition waiver to the University of Alaska Anchorage.
“It’s really vulnerable to put yourself out there on stage like that,” Andrews said. “But that was my strong suit. One of my double minors at GCU is professional writing, so writing and delivering that piece felt right.”
Andrews’ community service initiative centers on the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. By the end of the summer, she expects to be certified to present AFSP programs across Alaska to middle and high schools, colleges, trade schools and workplaces. Alaska’s recently passed Senate Bill 41 mandates mental health education in public schools. She also hopes to be an advocate for mental health on GCU’s campus and throughout the Phoenix valley.
“I get to be one of the beginning moving parts in this new Alaska state law,” Andrews said. “One of our biggest parts of pageant work and competition is public speaking and interviews. A lot of former winners will tell you that pageants prepare you for jobs, for grants, for promotions. GCU does the same. They really do a good job preparing students as best as they can.”
This fall, she’ll carry her story – and experiences from the GCU support network that helped shape her transformation – on to one of the biggest stages in the country. The competition can be watched live or on demand on the Miss America YouTube channel in September.
“Doubt kills far more dreams than failure ever can,” Andrews said. “You’re so much braver than you think for putting yourself on a stage like this.”
GCU News senior writer Jason Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected].
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