It was a whirlwind of activity and a plethora of emotions that guided Mexico’s Callie Cox through a year of carrying the crown of Miss Missouri.

The 2021 winner relinquished her title this past weekend at Missouri Military Academy on Saturday as Clare Marie Kuebler of Wildwood will now take on the responsibility of representing the state as one of its strongest up and coming women.

Cox did her fair share of doing that for 365 days and had time to reflect on those times as well as plan for a future she sees as being as bright as ever.

“Honestly, it wasn’t necessarily a sigh of relief, but a breath of excitement for the future knowing that it’s done and that I passed it on to my successor to a woman of great character, integrity and kindness,” Cox, who is currently wrapping up her studies at the University of Missouri, said. “It was ‘alright, here we go, on to the next.’ I am a pretty goal-oriented person and so I am on to my next great adventure, the next big thing. Also, it was ‘I can finally be normal.’

“Miss Missouri is a hard, challenging year. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with it.”

Cox said that when she first walked into the job of Miss Missouri, it fit her personal narrative of dream big and go all the way.

“Every day I dedicated this past year to being Miss Missouri,” Cox said. “It may have been a little bit of a crash and burn (after this past weekend). I have definitely caught up on my sleep the last few days.

“It’s been a lot of rest and recouping whether it be mentally, emotionally, physically, whatever it may be.”

Cox said that competing in the 100th anniversary Miss America pageant last year was definitely one of the highlights of her tenure representing the Show Me State.

One of those experiences included being around another four dozen-plus women who had so many of the same strengths in character and the shared journeys they could all relate to one another.

“I didn’t make the finals but being surrounded by all those women was a beautiful, beautiful experience,” Cox said. “Yes, we were there for a competition, but here we are six months later and all of us chat on a daily basis. I have met some of my closest, dearest friends through the Miss America competition.”

Cox spent much time going around taking to youths in school and discovered that middle school-aged kids were a lot more enjoyable than their reputations may suggest.

“They are at such an impressionable age,” Cox said. “That’s where we could actually make or break our next generation as game changers.”

Cox traveled “tens of thousands” of miles and “across Missouri that’s quite a few miles to drive,” and she said she hit all four corners of the state – Joplin, Maryville, Cape Girardeau and many others – while having a lot of fun.

“The small towns – similar to Mexico – were probably my favorite,” Cox said. “I attended an event in Trenton and that was just a blast. They roll out the red carpet for Miss Missouri in anticipation to see who she is.

“I loved being able to celebrate small towns having grown up a smalltown girl and see what’s up in the other towns.”

Cox was able to follow her own lead and purpose while on the trail while still teaming up with the Miss Missouri platform and expectations.

“It’s a collaborative effort,” Cox said. “I told them, ‘Here’s my gameplan and the impact I want to make.’ I did have an incredible booking manager who helped me. It was a ‘here is what I want to do and what the Miss Missouri Organization was contacted for,’ and then see what we could do together to reach as many people as possible.

“It definitely takes a village.”

Cox’s social impact initiative focused on disability advocacy and dealt with how much “they are so much more than a diagnosis,” and how they can be advocated for in area such as employment and extracurriculars.

The one thing that was a pleasant aspect if even a bit surprising one for Cox was one of camaraderie throughout the organization.

“I was like, ‘How can we have a sisterhood when we are competitors,’ so I was very suspicious of it,” Cox said. “The sisterhood blew me away on the local, state and national level. My world was rocked by these women I was surrounded by: They continued to make me better.

“They were some of my greatest cheerleaders and I was a confidant for them when times got hard. That has been something that I will be taking away and holding close to my heart for the rest of my life.”

Cox admits that some of the tougher aspects of the gig was the administrative work she had to do.

“It’s a lot of sending emails, networking, coordinating, scheduling, social media planning and strategizing,” Cox said. “I was prepared for, but I didn’t expect the level of that. That was challenging at times.

“I am a girl on the go and so there were times I would be sitting at my computer, and I would be like, ‘All right, here we go I am going to email blast.’ That was something I hadn’t been expecting.”

Cox plans on being a big support for future contestants and give back to those as so many had done for her.

All told, Cox was one who had a short, pageant career as Miss America was only her third-ever actual competition.

Cox won her local title in October of 2019, saw COVID wipe out a year’s worth of competition in 2020, and ultimately held the Miss Missouri crown after two years waiting.

“I was actually a (pageant) little sister about a decade ago and my big sister had started directing and had been a volunteer in the Miss Missouri organization,” Cox said. “She urged me to compete from the time I was eligible – when I was 13 – until I finally competed at 19. I continually said no because I always thought I wasn’t talented, pretty or worthy enough.

“I finally just said, ‘yes,’ because why not and I needed the scholarship money, so I said yes on a whim. I ended up doing it and now here we are.”

Cox graduates from the university in December with her bachelor’s in communications and debt free thanks to the Miss America scholarships.

“I want to continue doing good and Miss America has shown me the importance of doing a job where you can make an impact,” Cox said. “I want to make change for the rest of my life and that’s all thanks to Miss America.

“It was a wild, but a very beautiful journey.”