On my journey of being the next Miss Rhode Island

Hi, my name is Alicia Rodrigues and I am in the running to be the next Miss Rhode Island!! My story is sort of cool.. well at least I’d like to think so. At age 25 I woke up with strep throat and an auto immune disease I couldn’t shake . To the point of it being deadly, from that point on I didn’t realize I would be sick for years to come. Since that day I had strep throat over 9 times and eventually had to have my tonsils removed as an adult which was extremely difficult. During this entire process, years of carrying a thermometer with me paranoid that I had another fever it also caused my auto immune disease to go in to a serious flare up and 96 percent of my visible skin was plaque psoriasis. I then had to be treated with a chemo pill. I thought after years of steroids ,antibiotics ,hospitals , specialists, that my life was over. I thought my years as a power lifter and as a leader were done. Now fast forward years later and my skin has cleared entirely!! They told me that my entire body including face, eyelids and everywhere you could think of would be scarred for life but it’s a miracle and it completely cleared! I did my first powerlifting competition and won second place!! Now…. I am running to be miss rhode island after applying and sharing my story. If I become miss Rhode Island I want to spread kindness and awareness for auto immune conditions and for young girls and people all over to be inspired by my story. Even at your lowest, you can get back to your highest and higher!! Looking for donations to help with the costs to do the pageant and follow my lifelong dream of being a powerlifting beauty queen!