By Anthony Gorges
JC Post
First Lieutenant Alma Cooper, who is the current Miss USA, spoke to a large crowd on Thursday at the Military Affairs Council monthly breakfast in Junction City.
First Lieutenant Cooper was crowned Miss USA in August 2024 after winning Miss Michigan earlier that year. She is the first active-duty officer to be crowned Miss USA.
From a young age, Cooper believed that her purpose was to serve. During her junior year of high school, she received a letter in the mail from West Point, where she later graduated in 2023.
Her life motto is “Demand Excellence”, and she has. She is active duty in the army and is pursuing a master's degree from the University of Stanford while being Miss USA. (Cooper is the youngest recipient of the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship which is a full-ride to Stanford).
While in the Flint Hills Region, First Lieutenant Cooper spoke at the Military Affairs Council Breakfast in Junction City, to students at Junction City and Manhattan High School, spent time on Fort Riley, and attended a dinner at Kansas State University.
Her message to these students was, “If you can see me, you can be me”. She told students and community members that does not mean everyone has to go out and try to be Miss USA, but that there is no limitation that you face that you can’t overcome.