Lauren Compere Wins Ms. Wheelchair Mississippi Pageant

Lauren Compere, Ms. Wheelchair Mississippi

Lauren Compere’s strong faith, her courage and positive outlook make her an inspiration to many as she scoots across the Mississippi College campus in her power wheelchair.

Despite enormous health challenges since she was a three-year-old baby, Lauren continues to achieve big things. On Sunday, the bright MC student from Madison was selected Ms. Wheelchair Mississippi.

The honor at the annual state pageant in Meridian in early January opens the door for Compere to seek the crown of Ms. Wheelchair America this summer.

Compere will compete as the Magnolia State’s representative at the national pageant July 27-August 2, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. The event provides an opportunity for high-achieving women who happen to be wheelchair users to educate and advocate for more than 54 million Americans living with disabilities.

Judges consider achievement levels, communication skills and presentation as they evaluate candidates who would be an articulate spokeswoman for people with disabilities.

A Madison Central High graduate, Lauren seeks to use her new platform to help others.

“I really hope to build bridges between people with disabilities and faith-based organizations and local government agencies,” Compere told Meridian television station WTOK on Sunday.

Word of Lauren’s statewide honor spread quickly at the Baptist-affiliated university in Clinton.

It didn’t surprise Jim Turcotte, vice president for enrollment services and dean of students.

“Lauren has been a blessing to all of her friends and those of us who are privileged to know her,” Turcotte said Monday. “Lauren’s life is a testament to determination and her faith in God.’’

Lauren, he said, “has excelled in every way as a student at Mississippi College.”

The “A” student desires to be a Christian counselor. As a little girl, the Jackson native was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a disorder of movement, muscle tone or posture. Due to education, therapy and technology, people with the disorder can lead productive lives. Across the USA, about 500,000 people have some degree of cerebral palsy that typically is a lifelong disability.

“For me, my obstacles are not as big as someone may think,” Lauren says. “I have been in a wheelchair my whole life, so that is all that I know. I am thankful that I have been disabled my whole life as opposed to being healthy and suddenly disabled.”

At Mississippi College, Lauren gets helped by personal care attendants 16 hours a day. The Mississippian cannot take a bite of food or sip of water without help. It takes her two hours at her college dorm every morning to get ready for classes. People watch with amazement as the Swannanoa Social Tribe member writes with a pen or pencil in her mouth. She texts and types with one thumb.

Known for her sweet smile and deep love of the Lord, Lauren has a sea of admirers on and off the Clinton campus. She’s a 4^th generation Mississippi College Choctaw who refuses to see obstacles in her path.

Word of her new title as Ms. Wheelchair Mississippi reached friends like Karen Lindsey-Lloyd, an administrator at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

“I am so proud of this beauty,” says Lindsey-Lloyd, former director of the Office of Career Services at Mississippi College. “Way to go, Lauren Compere. Congrats!,” she wrote in an email to Mississippi College leaders.

The Ms. Wheelchair America pageant was organized in 1972 by Columbus, Ohio physician Dr. Philip K. Wood. Contestants must be at least 21 years old and use wheelchairs for 100 percent of their daily community mobility. The contest is designed to promote the achievements and needs of people with mobility impairments.

No doubt, Lauren Compere will be a strong contestant at the national level, Turcotte says. “I can say that all of the MC family wishes for Lauren all the best, and she is already Ms. Wheelchair America to us.”