It already was a gloomy day. Thick clouds hung low in the sky, and the storm-slick streets were ripe for accidents.
Then, the call came over Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Dep. MacKenzie Clark’s radio: 18-month-old drowning victim.
Clark was the first to arrive on-scene. Immediately, her training kicked in, and she began to administer CPR.
But it was too late.
Clark admits many of the calls over her radio seem to run together, but this one sticks out just a little more. That day, that gray day, helped shape her outlook on her career in law enforcement. It was worlds apart from her life just four years earlier, when she was crowned Miss Central Florida, or in 2007, when she represented her hometown of Plant City as a member of the Florida Strawberry Festival Queen’s Court. But for Clark, the two paths have more in common than one may think.
“It’s a way for me to mentor,” Clark says of both law enforcement and pageants. “Whether it’s pageants or now wearing a badge, it’s a way to impact people’s lives. You meet so many people through both. You may only have a few minutes with someone, so your first impression really is everything.”
‘A WHOLE NEW WORLD’
Clark didn’t grow up dreaming of a being a pageant girl.
There were no “little miss” pageants or junior royalty competitions.
In high school, she was athletic, playing soccer and golf at Kathleen High School, in Lakeland, where she attended, after spending her childhood in Plant City.
When she was 20, while taking classes at Hillsborough Community College in Plant City, Clark decided to sign up for the Florida Strawberry Festival pageant, an annual tradition in Plant City that kicks off festival season. It was her last opportunity to do so: Age 20 is the cut off.
“Because my family’s from Plant City, I really wanted to do it and be a part of it,” Clark says. “I knew a lot of people with the Florida Strawberry Festival, and my family has been intertwined with it for so many years. It was just something that I figured I would give a shot and see where it led.”
After earning a spot on the 2007 court and upholding the responsibilities that came with it, Clark competed and won Miss Central Florida a year later. That victory gave her extra scholarship money to use for school and qualified her for the Miss Florida Pageant, a preliminary competition for the Miss America Pageant.
“I didn’t really know what to expect from pageants, and it definitely is a whole new world,” she says. “It was a great experience. Knowing that I wanted to do broadcast journalism, it helped with the public-speaking aspects.
“For me, it wasn’t about being a winner or showing what I’ve got over someone else,” Clark says. “It had a lot to do with the camaraderie and the teamwork and the opportunities that it could present to you. You have to look at it as a way to develop you as a person.”
‘I DON’T SEE MYSELF AS MY IMAGE’
Years before pageant participation, Clark harbored dreams of serving in the military. But with an academic scholarship, she chose to hold off to pursue a degree in broadcast journalism at the University of South Florida.
After four years in school, Clark had a decision to make: pursue a career in TV or follow her desire for public service.
“Trying to think of some way to stay local and still serve in some capacity and help others, law enforcement piqued my interest,” she says.
It was something she never considered before, but the more she learned about it, the more she saw there were many similarities to what was drawing her to the military.
“I know it sounds funny, but I was to be a reporter with a journalism background in college, and here I am doing that in law enforcement,” she says. “I’m still getting the whole story. The difference is that I take it a step further, making something happen with whatever information I obtain.”
Clark, who joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2011, has enjoyed the teamwork and camaraderie aspects of law enforcement.
“We all have different ways in how we look at law enforcement, depending on different encounters you have with them,” she says. “I’ve seen how much of an aspect we really play in people’s lives and the role that we play. The variety of things that I’ve encountered, I think that if you don’t grow as a person in any career, you definitely grow in this career.”
And although pageant life is in her past, Clark often fields questions and comments about her appearance — even when on duty and in full uniform.
“I go to get something to eat, and people are like, ‘You’re too pretty to be a cop,’” she says. “It happens all the time, but I don’t see myself like that. I don’t see myself as my image. I see myself as the job that I do and that I perform and I just want to do well at what I’m required to do and go above and beyond as available.”
‘THE BEST DEPUTY I CAN BE’
To this day, Clark doesn’t talk about work with her father, Robert.
“I think he always thought that I would have a desk job, and it wasn’t until I was deputized that I think he realized that I would be on patrol, in a car, and by myself,” she says. “I know he just worries about me, so I try not to talk about my work when I’m around him.”
Many of her friends, including ones she made through the pageant circuit, were surprised and confused by Clark’s career choice.
“Some of them can’t believe it,” she says. “My interest in the military and later law enforcement wasn’t something that I really publicized.”
Other areas of law enforcement, including the public information sector, has piqued her interest and could be options in the future, because it relates to her degree.
But for now, Clark is enjoying serving on the front lines.
“I just want to become the best deputy I can be and grow from there,” she says.
Contact Matt Mauney at mmauney@plantcityobserver.com.“>http://scottmcrae.net/kreditnie-karti-hom-kredit-banka.php
