Miss Nebraska Sarah Rose Summers was crowned the winner of this year's Miss USA competition Monday night in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Here's what we know about Summers, who will compete for the Miss Universe title later this year:
1. The 23-year-old from Omaha is a certified child life specialist. According to the Miss Universe website, her brief hospitalization at age 4 for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, an immune disorder that can cause bruising and bleeding, and its effect on her family eventually led her to the field. Summers now works "as the liaison and advocate between children and families and the medical team in children's hospital settings," explaining diagnoses and procedures to patients and their loved ones, the website says.
2. The 2017 Texas Christian University grad earned bachelor's degrees in strategic communication and child development. Summers, who graduated with honors, also minored in business, the pageant's website says.
3. She studied abroad in college. Summers went to Peru, where "she knew no one, hiked Machu Picchu, visited remote villages, and slept under a mosquito net in the Amazon Basin," according to the Miss Universe site.
4. The pilates enthusiast is interested in health, fitness and helping people overcome eating disorders. "From her personal experience finding a balance, watching her mother lose 75 pounds, supporting multiple friends as they struggled with anorexia and orthorexia, and learning about the eating disorder inpatient unit during her clinical rotations, she is passionate about working closely with (National Eating Disorders Association) this year and plans to continue doing so," her Miss USA bio says.
5. Her answer in the competition's interview round encouraged self-expression and unity. The question: "You're on your way to a march and someone hands you a blank sign and a marker. What do you put on your sign and why?"
Her response: "I say, 'Speak your voice.' I don't know what march we're on our way to in this hypothetical situation, but no matter where you're going whatever type of march it is, you're obviously on your way to that march because you care about that cause. So go speak to people when they have questions. Communicate with them. Listen to their views, also. That is one thing in the United States that we really need to focus on: listening to each other."
