The discipline learned from putting in time and effort as a child is a skill and a talent you carry with you for the rest of your life in trying to achieve goals.

When people watch me on TV they see part of my life. I wanted to let them know the real me behind the scenes. The child who was a concert violinist from the age of six. The young woman who took on the challenge to compete in the Miss America pageant. The television journalist for twenty-five years. The mother of two who, just like most women, struggles to balance work and family.

Social media has allowed people to ramp up their personal attacks on people in the public eye - because there is a sense they can do it anonymously.

I've never understood why it's a negative to showcase a talented, smart woman who also happens to be attractive.

In our family, at this point,[Sunday School] its not a choice for my kids. It's a duty for us as parents to give them faith as a foundation and hope that when they bemuse older teens and young adults they will choose the same thing for themselves.

Being REAL means showing people who you are underneath all the TV make up too.

One of my Miss America judges called me a "God-clutcher" way back when because I spoke about my faith being an important part of my life during my interview.