{"id":1312,"date":"2020-11-06T19:37:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T19:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/?p=1312"},"modified":"2020-11-06T19:37:34","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T19:37:34","slug":"miss-spontaneity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/miss-spontaneity\/","title":{"rendered":"Miss Spontaneity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From an orphanage in Haiti, to a one-room schoolhouse in Keating, to the Miss Oregon USA<\/a> stage\u2014at 21 years old, Sophia Yervasi has already experienced more than most. This fall she plans to transfer to EOU and work toward completing her bachelor\u2019s degree in business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adopted by a Baker City family when she was a toddler, Yervasi faced bullying in elementary school, which led her parents to enroll her in one of Oregon\u2019s last functioning one-room schoolhouses. With first through sixth grade students all together, Yervasi said the class never totaled more than 25 students. After the torment she\u2019d experienced, Yervasi found comfort and friendship in the tight-knit group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was there from third to sixth grade, and it taught me to act more mature because you\u2019re a role model for the younger kids. I had to live by example,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a great experience and I\u2019m really grateful that I got to go to school there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But things took another downturn a few years later when Yervasi\u2019s mother got seriously ill in 2009, and then she lost two grandparents and her pet dog over one summer in 2012. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt made me feel like everyone around me was going to die,\u201d Yervasi said. \u201cIt felt like a constant pain in my chest, like someone squeezing my heart, like darkness. That was really confusing because I had never felt pain like that before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With support from friends, family and her church, Yervasi said she developed an inner strength and the pain faded away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost people outside my close friends and family didn\u2019t even know I was depressed,\u201d she said. \u201cA couple times I attempted suicide.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before one attempt, Yervasi was planning on saying goodbye to her best friend Kara Bennett, but when they locked eyes Yervasi changed her mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe second I saw her I just started bawling \u2026 I\u2019m pretty sure that saved me that day,\u201d Yervasi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost a decade later, Bennett and Yervasi are still close. This year, they\u2019ve channeled their friendship into a new endeavor: competing in Miss Oregon USA. They made a spontaneous decision to sign up together after watching Miss Universe, and now they will represent Union and Baker Counties in the November pageant<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope to learn about marketing and how to deal with stress better, and it\u2019s good motivation to keep getting fit,\u201d Yervasi said. \u201cI\u2019m in a time of self-discovery. Whether I win or lose, I\u2019m going to gain so much out of this.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each contestant selects a platform<\/a> or a cause they\u2019ll promote if they win the pageant. Yervasi hopes to spread awareness about depression and anxiety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we talk about it more, people can figure out how to get through it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really sad to think that maybe I wouldn\u2019t be here right now \u2026 and if my story can help anybody else, then it\u2019s worth sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first six months of 2020, Yervasi lost about 85 pounds. Entering Miss Oregon USA became an additional motivator for pursuing her fitness goals.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI struggled at first seeing the other people and how they all look like models, but then I realized I\u2019m doing this for myself and I\u2019m going to put my best self forward,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m nervous for the swimsuit portion, but I\u2019m excited for how empowered I\u2019ll feel afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Bennett, a junior at EOU, will be by her side through it all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEspecially when you start comparing yourself to others, it\u2019s helpful to have somebody there with you,\u201d Yervasi said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to share a room in the hotel for the weekend, we get to shop for our dresses together, and we can motivate each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of the final scores, Yervasi hopes to spread awareness about the pervasiveness of depression and anxiety among teens. And her positive, spontaneous attitude is bound to come out unscathed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhether I get top 10 or not, it\u2019s going to be a great experience,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m doing it to push myself and to build even more confidence\u2014also, I think it\u2019s going to be fun!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you or someone you know is experiencing severe depression or having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Transfer student Sophia Yervasi will join her best friend as contestants on the Miss Oregon USA stage Nov. 21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":380,"featured_media":1313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,21],"tags":[45,30],"class_list":["post-1312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2020","category-features","tag-student","tag-transfer"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/380"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1312"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1315,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312\/revisions\/1315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}