With a smile on her face, freshman Emily Winkler, of Dora, was crowned Miss UNA 2013 during the university’s annual pageant Jan. 26.

Winkler is an elementary education major. She also represents the university by being involved in the Pride of Dixie Marching Band as a majorette.

Winkler’s platform is Heart to Heart: Creating Awareness in My Community about Heart Disease. Winkler made this her platform because of her father’s health conditions. She said she has already begun work with her platform through other titles she had previously gained.

“I was featured on Coffee Time, which is a local TV show, and spoke about my platform,” she said.

During the pageant, Winkler chose to play a piece on the piano. She has been playing the piano since she was 10, and this art is something she is passionate about.

As the winner of the Miss UNA Pageant, Winkler won several prizes in addition to her scholarship and books. Winkler will now be able to own her custom designed ring from Creative Jewelers. Among the long list of prizes are spa packages, tanning and gym memberships, travel expenses and much more.

Like any college student, Winkler appreciates free tuition, but she said the best part of her experience while competing for Miss UNA was the week prior to the pageant.

“I really got to know everyone during that week,” she said. “It was probably the best part.”

She started competing in the Miss America Organization when she was 14. She said she started competing for scholarship opportunities and continued competing for the same reason.

“I really wanted this title for the tuition and books,” she said.

As Miss UNA, Winkler said she is most excited about representing the university during campus events like Step Sing, SOAR and helping to recruit people to UNA.

A freshman student has not won the Miss UNA Pageant for many years. Winkler said she thinks it’s amazing to have won this pageant as a freshman because it’s usually higher classmen who win.

The Miss UNA Scholarship Pageant is an official preliminary for the Miss Alabama and Miss America pageants, so Winkler will be moving on to compete in bigger events.