More than a feeling

WASILLA — The most important thing for any Miss America contestant is choosing a platform.

Not only will a platform determine her chances of winning, it will define her daily life for the next 365 days.

Most hone in on an issue like bullying or childhood obesity or the environment, but the new Miss Alaska, crowned earlier this month, a platform can be used to a convey a feeling, a sentiment that goes to the root cause of society’s ills.

“I’ve been studying about human interactions and the power of compassion, which is kind of like empathy, plus action,” said Wasilla native Angelina Klapperich, a recent graduate of the University of Alaska Anchorage with a major in psychology. “Compassion is what you feel with another person, but it also tells you to alleviate any suffering they might be feeling.”

Klapperich qualified for the Miss Alaska pageant by winning Miss Anchorage earlier in the year. She’s the first Miss Alaska to have also been Miss Outstanding Teen, a title she earned back in 2010 when her platform was volunteerism.

A year after graduating from Colony High, she ran for Miss Alaska, and then sat out for four years while she focused on her studies. She returned to the field last year and finished runner-up, which provided her the opportunity to take part in the Sweetheart Pageant in Hoopeston, Illinois and compete against other runners-up from the other 49 states.

“That was pretty high caliber. There were a lot of girls from southern states who’d been doing this for a long time,” Klapperich said. “I got a taste of what Miss America could be like.”

Entering her final run before aging out, the 23-year-old Klapperich found inspiration for her 2017 platform from a pair of books “The 12 Steps to a Compassionate Life”, by Karen Armstrong, and “The Art of Happiness”, by the Dalai Lama.

“In Alaska, we have some of the highest rates of domestic violence and suicide,” Klapperich said. “There’s a whole lot of social problems that really boil down to a lack of compassion and empathy toward one another.”

Armed with a platform she could articulate and believe in, Klapperich took to the Miss Alaska stage, not nervous at all about running out of time, but wholly confident in her experience and abilities.

“This year, I felt, more than ever, really sure about who I am. I didn’t compromise that in any of my answers,” said Klapperich, whose all-important pre-pageant interview with judges included questions about Osama Bin Laden, the Pebble Mine, the death penalty, the Alaska financial crisis and Donald Trump. “I felt very self-assured — more so than ever ready to talk about my platform… I saw the video of my interview with the judges and I could see that I felt fairly comfortably speaking my mind about who I am. I think that’s just part of growing up.”

Also what may have put Klapperich over the top was her piano rendition of a piece called ‘Bumble Boogie’.

“It’s a little twist on ‘Flight of the Bumble Bee’,” she said. “I’ve been playing piano since I was 3 or 4. I remember I received a tiny little piano from Santa and that kickstarted it all.”

Since she’s become Miss Alaska, Klapperich’s time is spent between training for the Miss America pageant, set to air on national TV on Sept. 10, and laying the groundwork for spreading her message around the state for her year under the crown. She’s already had made hundreds of rubber wristbands emblazoned with the words ‘BE COMPASSIONATE’ on one side, and ‘Every person fights a person battle’ on the other.

“My concern was that (compassion) was very broad, but I was trying to hone in on what is the goal,” she said. “It’s not necessarily just kindness because, I think, you can do a kind act but not necessarily feel anything for that person. The hope is that you have empathy for that person. The definition of compassion means you’re legitimately dealing with what another person is feeling and if you try to do that in your daily actions it becomes a daily habit.”

In two weeks, Klapperich will fulfill her role as Miss Anchorage and visit Anchorage’s sister city Chitose in the northern part of Japan.

“For almost 50 years they’ve been sending Miss Anchorage to Japan,” said Klapperich, who’s never left the United States. “I’ll try to brush up on a little Japanese and I’ll meet the pageant queens they have in Japan… There will be a host family, a real taste of the culture.”

After a week in Japan, Klapperich will find herself in Orlando, Fla., cheering on Miss Alaska Outstanding Teen Emma Broyles.

“At that time, I’ll get to meet the other Miss America contestants,” Klapperich said. “It’s a fun opportunity in a stress-free environment. I do that, I get back, have one month and leave for Miss America at the end of August.”

Miss Alaska isn’t the only title of distinction Klapperich has won this month.

Spoiler alert: She was also named Best Barista in the Frontiersman’s Best of the Valley survey (see Best of the Valley section in Friday’s Frontiersman) for her works of coffee artistry and compassion at Little Millers Ice Cream at Bogard and Seldon.

“Growing up in Wasilla my entire life, it was incredible to see the amount of support I’ve received,” she said. “It seems like every car that comes through Little Millers, people are congratulating me… they’re extremely supportive and really, genuinely excited.”

After Miss America, Klapperich is intent on spreading her message across the Last Frontier.

“I do plan to travel throughout the state,” she said. “Title holders in the past tend to stay in Southcentral Alaska, but I want to go to Nome for the end of the Iditarod, Juneau and Sitka… More than just Anchorage and the Valley.”