‘On cloud nine.’ UGA student Sophia Wootten captures Miss Georgia crown

As a kid, Sophia Wootten was told people might never understand her. She was born with a cleft lip and palate and spoke with a speech impediment. She underwent 20 surgeries before turning 20 years old, including major reconstructive surgery.

Saturday evening, Wootten took home the 2026 Miss Georgia crown at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts in Columbus. Her talent in the competition is singing, epitomizing her resilience in using her voice as a tool to grow her confidence.

Wootten won $25,300 in scholarships over the four days of competition. She is an undergraduate student at the University of Georgia, majoring in communications sciences and disorders. After graduation, she plans to pursue a doctorate in audiology at Auburn University.

With her service initiative, AccessAbility: Disability Advocacy in Education, the 21-year-old from Peachtree City helps students with disabilities gain accommodations and confidence in the classroom.

In an interview Sunday with the Ledger-Enquirer, Wootten discussed the challenges she overcame as a child to win the crown. Here are excerpts from the conversation, edited for brevity and clarity.

What were your emotions last night as you were named Miss Georgia?

I stood up there with one of my best friends, Aleks Arwood, holding hands, and in that moment, I felt peace with whatever the outcome might be, and Lord willing, it became my chance to be Miss Georgia. I was so flustered that my name was called. I was excited. I did not even know what to say. I was speechless, and I still feel a little bit speechless. I’m on cloud nine.

Why did you decide to compete in pageantry?

I actually did it with one of my friends. We did it for fun. We were just like, “I wonder what this will be.” And then it ended up being an opportunity of sisterhood that I hadn’t quite had in college yet. Then I built up a community service initiative. Mine is AccessAbility: Disability Advocacy and Education. I was born with cleft lip and palate with hearing aids, and I was always told, “You can’t do X, Y and Z.” Pageantry took away all of those barriers for me.

What is the sisterhood like that you find among pageantry?

This week 98 women hit the Miss Georgia stage, and 98 women were not competing against each other. We were competing with each other, but we were also all best friends. There were nights where we were staying up, talking until 3 a.m. even if we had a hair and makeup call at 6 a.m. the next morning. That’s what true sisterhood is. We are learning each other’s stories. We are supporting each other.

What has been the most memorable part of your journey to the Miss Georgia crown?

Last night, within five minutes of being crowned Miss Georgia, Miss Georgia 2016 came up to me, and she said, “It’s my 10-year anniversary, but I also wanted you to meet my daughter.” She wears two hearing aids, so I got to bend down and meet with her. I look at her, and her hair is back, and I noticed that she’s wearing two pink sparkly hearing aids, and my story is that very recently I started rocking two pink sparkly hearing aids. It was surreal to see somebody kind of like me as soon as I was crowned Miss Georgia.

What gets you through the hardest moments?

I have a great support system. I come from a very blended family. My parents were previously married. I have a bunch of half -siblings, and now my siblings are having kids and getting married. We have a very large family, and every single one of them last night was just weeping with me at this victory. This victory is just as much theirs as it is mine.

What do you love most about singing?

I was the child that no voice teacher or speech pathologist wanted to see coming. I had a speech impediment because of my cleft. I had communication challenges. So voice lessons kind of became my speech therapy. I started them when I was 5 years old, and I’ve continued them now since I’m 21 years old. So, singing to me is so much more than just singing a few notes and walking off a stage. It truly is the cultivation of my entire story and my ability to communicate because that’s where it started.

What do you like to do outside of pageantry?

I’m a big crafter. I actually bedazzled the Lover bodysuit from the Era’s Tour one year after a surgery. It was 77,000 rhinestones. I love to bake, but my biggest thing is theater. I love to go to shows.

What would your younger self think of you now?

Oh my gosh. She would probably not think it’s the same girl. I was so scared to speak in public. I was so scared to even wear my hearing aids in public. And now, not only did I have some hearing aid malfunctions on the Miss Georgia stage, but we came out of that with a victory and with a voice. Now we get to empower others to use their voice.

What does wearing the crown mean to you?

It means that no label defines me. It’s so important that children can see somebody that looks like them, somebody that has the same experience as them, or maybe a child doesn’t have a cleft, doesn’t have hearing aids, or 20 surgeries, but they can see me in the face of opportunity and the power of change. That’s what I plan to do as Miss Georgia: to show children that nothing will define them or their future.