The 2022 Miss Kansas is sharing her story of overcoming childhood trauma

When she was 17, Ayanna Hensley, who was crowned Miss Kansas 2022 at Pratt Community College in June, was legally homeless.

She felt it was safer for her to leave the homes of her mother and father, who were each struggling with substance abuse.

Hensley was a senior at Dodge City High School and worked full-time as a restaurant server. She spent nights in the homes of her boyfriend’s family and friends’ family, until moving to a dorm at Fort Hays State University, which she attended on a full-ride scholarship.

Hensley, a Dodge City native, grew up around drugs, familial conflict and physical abuse — some of which she endured herself.

Although it was difficult, Hensley says it’s obstacles like these — along with her faith in God — that made her who she is today, and took her to the title of Miss Kansas. These challenges also led Hensley to use the Miss Kansas competition as a platform to advocate for individuals who have gone through childhood trauma.

“I understand that it wasn’t conventional — the white picket fence nuclear family image that we all desperately aim for. But it is who I am,” Hensley said. “It’s not entirely who I am, but it is a part of me, and I’m proud of that part because it shows how far I’ve come, how far I’m willing to go and just how many people — especially in this position that I am in life — I can impact.”

“I’D GO RUN 5 MILES AND THEN I FELT SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER”

Today, Hensley is a Rudd Scholar, a college graduate, a dancer, a woman of Christian faith and of course, the 83rd Miss Kansas.

In May 2022, Hensley graduated from FHSU with a bachelor’s degree in biology and an English certificate. The Rudd Scholarship — a four-year award that helps Pell Grant-eligible students attend Emporia State, Fort Hays or Wichita State — covered all of her college expenses.

Hensley’s journey started from the challenges that her parents faced. Hensley and her brother were both a result of a teen pregnancy.

Life with their parents wasn’t always bad, Hensley says. Rather, it came in “waves.” At times, everything was okay — she was involved in school and her relationship with her family was strong. At other times, everything would go downhill.

As a student athlete, one way Hensley coped with her challenges was simply by going outside and running.

“In high school, I got to do cross country and I realized how freeing that was for me,” Hensley said. “Running was a huge thing for me because I could run any time I wanted to. If I wanted to leave the house because I was frustrated about what I was being surrounded by, I’d go run 5 miles and then I felt significantly better.”

This year was Hensley’s second Miss Kansas competition. Inspired by a friend who had won Miss Santa Fe Trail, Hensley competed in the 2021 Miss Kansas competition, where — to her surprise — she was named first runner-up.

She won Miss Kiowa County in early June, which took her to the Miss Kansas competition, where she was announced as the winner out of 22 other women ages 18-26.

“In that moment, you have no idea what to think, what to feel, how to act,” Hensley said. “I forgot my flowers. I was supposed to grab flowers and walk down and I forgot them. I turned back around, screamed a little bit and I grabbed them; it’s kind of funny. But it’s such an overwhelming amount of emotion coming from every angle, so you just kind of wink.”

“YOU CAN CHOOSE THE CARDS THAT YOU WANT TO PLAY”

In addition to modeling an evening gown, answering an onstage question and participating in a private interview, each woman who competes in the Miss Kansas competition pitches a social impact initiative that they will pursue if they win.

Hensley’s initiative is entitled ACE’s Low: Overcoming Adverse Childhood Experiences. To implement her initiative so far, she has been giving motivational speeches to share the story of her experiences and how her faith has changed her life.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are defined by the Child Welfare Information Gateway as “traumatic events that occur before a child reaches the age of 18.”

In the United States, nearly 40% of children and two-thirds of adults have been exposed to at least one Adverse Childhood Experience, according to the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative. ACEs include all types of abuse and neglect, such as parental substance use, incarceration and domestic violence, the gateway says.

“My slogan that we’re using is, ‘It doesn’t matter what hand you’ve been dealt in life — you can choose the cards that you want to play,’” Hensley said. “So yes, everyone has a story and there’s that background, but you also get to choose where you’re moving forward in, so I think that’s the ultimate legacy.”

Hensley has also established a partnership with Big Brother Big Sisters and League 42 to spread that message.

Stephanie Harris, board chair and booking business manager of the Miss Kansas Organization, said she believes the judges’ ability to connect with Hensley contributed to her winning this year’s crown.

“I think that what judges look for in a young woman is someone that people can relate to,” Harris said. “I think you can relate to Ayanna through her story and her social impact initiative because I think it’s applicable to people of all ages.”

Anchored in Christian faith

Hensley’s faith is a large part of her success and persistence.

“If I can come from a God who gave his son up for sacrifice when I have earned none of it — I have earned none of it, nor will I ever own up to that,” Hensley said. “It was that sacrifice that I said, ‘I can’t be perfect, I shouldn’t expect myself to be perfect, so I can’t expect others to be perfect either.’ And it was that nonjudgmental perspective that carried me a long way.”

Throughout her childhood of growing up around drugs, addiction and conflict that shaped her Adverse Childhood Experience, Hensley says one of the biggest challenges was learning how to not blame herself for the events around her.

“It took a lot of self-reflecting and a lot of growing up to realize that it wasn’t me. That I wasn’t the person placing myself within these circumstances and it wasn’t my fault,” Hensley said. “And that was a huge epiphany for me.”

Though there were grudges in the past, she loves her parents and is grateful for them. They found her instruments to play in the orchestra. They paid for her dance classes.

Her parents have since overcome addiction, and Hensley is on much better terms with them. In fact, the Miss Kansas competition was one of the few times in which Hensley has seen her father cry.

“You kind of get to this point where you realize, ‘I only have one set of parents,’’’ Hensley said. “And that’s where that faith came from, where I understand that I should have never expected them to be perfect. If I look at their life and where they came from, they did give me more opportunities than what they were provided.”

What’s next

Currently, Hensley is staying in Wichita, where she is preparing for the next contest — Miss America — which is expected to be held in December in Uncasville, Connecticut. Until then, she will work on developing her social impact initiative.

Throughout her years with the Miss Kansas Organization, Hensley has earned approximately $15,000 in scholarship money, Harris said.

Hensley plans to use that money to continue her education to become a pediatric oncology physician assistant, where she can combine her love for kids and desire to help those diagnosed with cancer, which has affected her mother and her grandfather.

“I know I’m set up for failure in terms of cancer genes, but optimism — I want to help combat some of that so that I can have a better understanding of my family and my health as well,” Hensley said.

This story was originally published August 9, 2022 at 4:09 AM with the headline "The 2022 Miss Kansas is sharing her story of overcoming childhood trauma."