It took her 12 years to earn her doctorate degree that she started at Miami University and completed at Oakland (Ind.) University.
And 13 years after she first competed in the Mrs. Ohio America pageant, where she was first runner-up, Million was recently crowned Mrs. Ohio America 2024.
Now 51 years old with five children and three grandchildren, Million, a teacher at Highview Sixth Grade Center in Middletown, will compete for the title of Mrs. America 2024 next month in Las Vegas.
She joked about the perception of some people who believe women her age are past their prime when competing in pageants.
“Our day is gone,” is how she described the common opinion.
She proved them wrong.
Now she has an opportunity to be the second woman from Middletown to win a national pageant. Susan Perkins was crowned Miss America in 1978.
Million called being crowned “fulfilling a dream” since she watched the pageant for years on TV. On those nights, she was impressed by how the married women talked about their dedication to their communities and working for the “betterment of mankind.”
She has always expressed her opinions to her students, really anyone who would listen. As Mrs. Ohio, she’s speaking into “a big microphone,” she said.
Million, a 1991 Middletown High School graduate who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Miami, hopes others see her tenacity and apply it to their lives.
“We need to run our own race,” she said after mentioning how long she attended college. “Don’t worry about others. Compete with yourself. For me it was about continuing the race for all of those whose dreams haven’t been realized.
“It’s easy to lose hope, but cheer for yourself when nobody is clapping.”
As Mrs. Ohio, Million said she will be a “forever queen,” and she plans to use that platform to push her agenda: diversity, equality and inclusion within student voices and giving them the opportunity to have mental health resources and initiatives.
Million, who was 38 when she first competed in Mrs. Ohio, said she’s more “seasoned” now. She excelled in the interview portion of the pageant that’s much more intense than the evening gown and swimsuit competition shown on TV.
Million and her husband, Brandon, have five children, Aunjanna, 30, AuLauren, 24, AuBraylen, 22, AuLaila, 20 and AuBrillen, 16, two granddaughters and one grandson.
She’s exactly the type of person communities like Middletown need. She grew up in Middletown, left to better herself through education, then returned in hopes of paying back her hometown. She called Middletown “the place that raised me.”
She doesn’t want to have any regrets.
“You have one life to live,” she said. “You get one shot at life.”
Luckily for her, she got two shots at being crowned Mrs. Ohio.
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