Opp High School students learned a valuable lesson on Wednesday – it’s not the size of the town someone comes from; it’s the drive and work ethic that the individual possesses.

At OHS’s last Dress for Success event of the year, Wadley native, former Miss Alabama 2007 and current Alabama News Network Anchor Jamie Langley spoke to the students about having the right attitude and perspective on life.

“There will be brick walls in front of you,” she said. “But your attitude depends on if you will plow through them or if you will turn around and walk away.”

Langley said she struggled with self-confidence as a child, but through tackling one day at a time, she slowly built her confidence up.

“I had to figure out how to get from the cow pasture to the stage,” she said. “I had a self-confidence problem. There were older students who intimidated me and I couldn’t speak to them. I decided I was going to work on it. So, the first day, I looked one person in the eye. The next day, I looked the person in the eye and said, ‘hello.’ I built on it until I wasn’t bound by those walls anymore.”

Langley encouraged students not to worry about things they cannot control.

She shared with them a story from the last year she competed in Miss Alabama.

She had lost her voice going into the pageant and it looked grim on the talent portion. Langley told the students she decided not to worry about it because it was out of her control.
“I told myself if I hit the high note in the middle, I was going up at the end,” she said. “At the end of the night, I was crowned talent winner.”

Additionally, she encouraged them not to worry about judgments other place on them.

“You cannot worry about peers,” she said. “There are always some who do not want to see you succeed.”