10 Within 10 Recognition
Jaclyn Schultz '10
While lots of pageant winners have been honing their skills for years, Jaclyn Schultz, ’10, entered the Miss Michigan pageant as a first-timer – and won.
“I saw the requirements online – ‘successful in college and in your career, confident, a leader …’ I said, ‘I could totally do this.’
“My goal was to be in the top 15,” Schultz says. “Then I won. It was pretty crazy.” Schultz, media planner and buyer for SK+G advertising agency in Las Vegas, served as Miss Michigan from September 2012 to September 2013.
She picked a platform few people had heard of – but she would change that.
Schultz started speaking out about Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster- Hauser Syndrome, MRKH for short. She has the condition, which means she was born without a uterus. An estimated 1 out of 4,500 women have this condition.
“I never thought about coming out with it – it’s pretty private,” Schultz says. “It’s sort of a secret syndrome that nobody talks about. But when I won Miss Michigan, I realized I wanted to make a difference somehow. I thought, ‘I have a voice, a platform. I want to use it.’”
She started working with the Beautiful You MRKH Foundation and became its spokesperson. Lots of speaking engagements followed at colleges and hospitals.
“Girls are so young when they’re diagnosed. When I talk to them, I find out they feel the same way I did,” she says. “My main message is not to let it get you down. Girls sink into depression over this. I tell them ‘Just be confident in who you are. Embrace your imperfections. Nobody’s perfect. Everybody’s real.’”
Schultz hopes to get married and have a child, through adoption or surrogacy.
Meanwhile, she hears from women all over the world, thanking her for speaking out.
“It’s very humbling,” she says. “I didn’t realize the impact I was having. It feels great.”
“I saw the requirements online – ‘successful in college and in your career, confident, a leader …’ I said, ‘I could totally do this.’
“My goal was to be in the top 15,” Schultz says. “Then I won. It was pretty crazy.” Schultz, media planner and buyer for SK+G advertising agency in Las Vegas, served as Miss Michigan from September 2012 to September 2013.
She picked a platform few people had heard of – but she would change that.
Schultz started speaking out about Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster- Hauser Syndrome, MRKH for short. She has the condition, which means she was born without a uterus. An estimated 1 out of 4,500 women have this condition.
“I never thought about coming out with it – it’s pretty private,” Schultz says. “It’s sort of a secret syndrome that nobody talks about. But when I won Miss Michigan, I realized I wanted to make a difference somehow. I thought, ‘I have a voice, a platform. I want to use it.’”
She started working with the Beautiful You MRKH Foundation and became its spokesperson. Lots of speaking engagements followed at colleges and hospitals.
“Girls are so young when they’re diagnosed. When I talk to them, I find out they feel the same way I did,” she says. “My main message is not to let it get you down. Girls sink into depression over this. I tell them ‘Just be confident in who you are. Embrace your imperfections. Nobody’s perfect. Everybody’s real.’”
Schultz hopes to get married and have a child, through adoption or surrogacy.
Meanwhile, she hears from women all over the world, thanking her for speaking out.
“It’s very humbling,” she says. “I didn’t realize the impact I was having. It feels great.”