Following a whirlwind week recently in Birmingham, Miss Greater Greenville, Kimberly Kirby

feels she was &#8220well prepared” for her first trip to Miss Alabama.

In fact, the Hueytown native said the support she received from the Miss GG Scholarship Board had been so tremendous, she was a little spoiled.

&#8220I am looking into other preliminaries to enter…but I definitely don't want to go ‘downhill,' after such a great experience in Greenville. I want to enter in cities where they also have a reputation for supporting their girls.”

Kirby, a student at the University of Montevallo, said she wasn't overwhelmed by her first trip &#8220to the big dance.”

&#8220I found I felt comfortable and I really had a lot of fun. I met a lot of really good Christian girls…I heard stories about cutthroat competition, but I didn't see that,” Kirby said.

&#8220Most everyone there is encouraging and supportive. They really want you to do a good job, too.”

As a first year participant, Kirby knew it would be tough to &#8220break through” to the Top Ten.

&#8220I did the best I could do…but there were 48 other girls doing the same thing, you know.”

(According to Miss GG Scholarship Board director, Sue Arnold, no newcomers to the state program made it into the top ten.)

While she is hoping to win a title close to her home base in Hueytown, Kirby said she is also looking into other preliminaries with good reputations.

&#8220I would love to win Miss Jefferson County or another one close to home, but I am not ruling out other possibilities.”

Her next preliminary? Miss Heartland in Livingston in early July.

However, she says she never forget her first title win in the City of Smiles.

&#8220I couldn't have asked for better support than the Miss GG board gave me right from the start. And every day of the preliminaries, there were cards and gifts and flowers – it makes you feel really good,” Kirby said.

Her mother, Denise Kirby, agrees. &#8220Kimberly couldn't have had a better pageant family.”

&#8220We are very proud of how well Kimberly has represented our town during her reign and during the Miss Alabama finals. She's a great girl,” Arnold said.