Social media advocacy with Miss USU

Before she passes on her crown in April, Alexis Lyman, 2024-25 Miss USU, is looking back at her time in this position and her impact.

Miss USU is an annual pageant held by the Utah State University Student Alumni Association. Women from different colleges and organizations compete and create a platform for causes that are important to them. 

Lyman is a junior at USU majoring in communication studies and minoring in yoga studies while working towards a certificate in conflict management and facilitation. Lyman hadn’t previously been in a pageant but felt inspired by the 2023-24 Miss USU Regan Tracy.

“I really wanted to put myself in an uncomfortable situation. All of 2024 was the ‘year of yes’ for me,” Lyman said. “I’m the kind of person where if I just at least try for something and give it my 100% and then the answer is no, then I’m okay with it. I have to at least try anything and everything and just know that it wasn’t meant for me.”

Lyman’s platform is called “Seen, Heard, Known” and emphasizes creating awareness for wellness resources on campus. She uses the Instagram account @missusulogan to spread awareness.

“It’s kind of transitioned to more of a physical, mental, spiritual, emotional health kind of deal — just all forms of health,” Lyman said. “It can be really scary and tough to even ask for help and to choose yourself.”

One of the programs Lyman has been working the most closely with is the Heravi Peace Institute. According to their webpage, HPI “aims to empower students with the temperament and tools needed to bring about social change.”

The program focuses attention on conflict management, peacebuilding and nonprofit work. Within the program, there are people called conversational space-makers.

“This last semester, I trained to be a space-maker,” Lyman said. “Conversational space-makers are just trained to help talk through challenges in a really confidential and safe space. They don’t give advice, and it’s really encouraging the person to learn how to trust themselves more.”

Lyman explained mental health facilities at USU such as the Counseling and Prevention Services can have long wait times and don’t always meet the needs of students. She has been working with the director of the space making Program, Clair Canfield, to bring more awareness to it.

“It’s not like trained professionals who, you know, can diagnose you, but I have seen firsthand so many beautiful transformations and experiences of people who have been able to receive space,” Lyman said.

Throughout her advocacy for reaching out and getting the help you need, Lyman ended up helping herself too. She described the fall semester of her junior year as the most difficult she’s gone through.

“I would post things, or I would have so many conversations with people weekly, talking to them about maybe my platform or different resources. Giving them feedback, or just listening to them when they’re maybe having a difficult time,” Lyman said.

While journaling, something she has consistently done for 12 years, she realized she too needed the help she was encouraging others to get.

“I had to take my own advice and kind of humble myself in a way. I really had to experience what it was like to seriously ask for help and humility. Looking at someone and saying, ‘I am not doing okay and I need help,’ are some of the hardest words that I think you can say, at least for me,” Lyman said.

Brooklyn Ward is the current USUSA  executive vice president and the previous 2022-23 Miss USU Eastern. She is also a close friend of Lyman’s. They met while serving on the USUSA Traditions Committee last year. With her previous experience with the Miss USU pageant, she helped Lyman earn her title.

“I think she has a natural gift. A lot of things play into becoming Miss USU or winning any pageant. I think that for her, it was a combination of a lot of things, and in my experience, it’s usually people who feel passionate and have a deep connection with what they’re trying to promote and spread through their platform and through the position,” Ward said.

Throughout their friendship, Lyman has shown Ward the compassion that she aims to spread through her time with the crown.

“She’ll talk with you about anything. She’ll laugh with you about anything. If you love it, she’ll find a way to love it, or she’ll love it right back for you,” Ward said.