Young Lady To Be Beauty Pageant’s First Contestant with Autism!

Rachel Barcellona (Picture Courtesy of refinery29)

Meet Rachel Barcellona. When she was just a little girl, her entire life changed when she and her family were told that she had autism. “I was basically promised that I would never graduate any school really or have any friends,” she said, “Pretty much everything bad was going to happen to me because I have autism”. That’s a lot for a young girl to deal with. But instead of letting that rule her life, she chose a different route.

Now at 22 years of age, she’s a junior at the University of South Florida and is going to take part in the Miss Florida competition as their first contestant with autism. When asked why she wanted to participate, she said it wasn’t about the notoriety. “I want to use my voice to inspire hope to others”, she said. Awesome!

I don’t know about you, but I am always inspired by a person so young who can understand that the tragic things in their life can become part of a greater story to be used for good. That’s just like Romans 8:28 where it says “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose”.

Stories like Rachel’s can be a great reminder to you and me that no matter what kind of hand we’ve been dealt, that part of our story can be used to inspire others and do so for Christ! I sure hope Rachel’s story has inspired you as it did me! See you all next week!

Alex, Producer and Resident Millennial for the Kankelfritz and Friends Morning Show