Astyn Childs is now in top 3 in ‘People’s Choice’ voting
GUNNISON—Ashtyn Childs, Miss Sanpete County, is currently one of the top three contestants statewide in People’s Choice voting in the Miss Utah competition, which runs Thursday through Saturday this week.
Voting for the People’s Choice is done online and is $1 per vote. You can help Ashtyn take the top spot by going to pageantplanet.com/event/miss-utah-2022. Ashtyn was honored at a sendoff party on Saturday, May 4 in her hometown of Gunnison.
“The Miss Utah sisterhood is so strong, and I can’t wait to spend the week with some of Utah’s finest women,” she said.
She said that she has been dying to compete on the Miss Utah stage since she was a little girl and to have the chance to represent her hometown is a “dream come true.”
“As the Miss Sanpete County board, we are pleased with Ashtyn’s dedication to her social impact initiative through activities in Sanpete County, her private interview preparation (which includes current events and social issues) and the time she has put into perfecting her talent,” said Abby Ivory, Miss Sanpete pageant director.
Ashtyn says she has loved sharing her social impact initiative, “Be Uniquely You” with people across the county and seeing the impact her story has had on people.
When she was 14, she was diagnosed with Graves Disease which is an autoimmune disease that causes the thyroid gland to be hyperactive. This affected her thyroid and pituitary glands, which oversees a lot of the main functions of the body including cognitive thinking, regulation of the heart, muscle tone, metabolism and much more.
“As a young teenager being involved in sports and always having good grades, it was so discouraging to watch all of that decline and, for me, to have to work extra hard on things that used to come so naturally,” she said.
She often felt like a failure and didn’t understand why her body was betraying her. Persistence and determination became her strong suit, and she wasn’t going to let anything stop her from doing and enjoying the things she loved.
The hardest thing she faced was the change in her appearance. A big symptom of Graves is bulging of the eyes.
“A year and a half into my diagnosis my eyes started to bulge, and it would progressively get worse as time went on. I used to feel so uncomfortable in the way that I looked because of my eyes and would often do all I could to make them look what I thought was normal,” Ashtyn said.
Four years ago, surgery ended most of her health struggles. “Through my experience, I have realized that there is no ‘normal,’” she said. “We are all made beautiful in our own uniqueness and should celebrate it every day. Now the changes in my eyes and my beautiful scar are reminders to me every day of my trials and the beauty I hold as an individual, and I hope you can all find that within yourselves too.”
While some of her favorite events are the United We March in Gunnison and the Sanpete County Fair, she says nothing compares to being able to emcee many local pageants, sharing her talent and becoming friends with so many other young ladies throughout the county.
Ashtyn is working as a licensed nail technician and was also a preschool teacher this past school year. She will be finishing her bachelor’s degree in early childhood development this fall. She said she is a big lover of true crime podcasts, Takis and watermelon Red Bull drinks.
“I have been so blessed with such loving parents and a sister,” she said. “They are my biggest fans, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.”
Ashtyn wants the residents of Sanpete County to know how much she appreciates their love and support in her preparation for Miss Utah.
“To have such a strong support system of family, friends, and my community makes me feel like the biggest winner,” she said.
