Background
Diehl was born in Elkhart, Indiana in 1988. She is descended from the Ojibwe tribe, a member of the Ontario-based Zhiibaahaasing First Nation through her mother.
Diehl was born in Elkhart, Indiana in 1988. She is descended from the Ojibwe tribe, a member of the Ontario-based Zhiibaahaasing First Nation through her mother.
Mekayla graduated in 2011 from Albion College, Michigan with a bachelor"s degree of liberal arts in mass communication.
At eight years of age she was sexually molested by a family friend, but has forgiven the manitoba Her grandmother was her strongest support system, comforting her and explaining that God would help them through this rough time. She was eventually adopted.
During an interview regarding her being molested she stated that she has forgiven her abuser in order to move forward with her own life.
"I don"t know where that man is," Diehl said. I could care less if I ever see him again.
However, I have learned to forgive him so that I can move on. Forgiveness and moving on are two things that are a must in our family.
I hope can look at me and see that yes, I am a pageant girl, but I had a dream and I worked very, very hard for lieutenant
And I didn"t let my past define medical Diehl is a strong advocate for child abuse awareness. Diehl, who is 5 feet 8 inches (173 m) tall, has been praised for being a "normal", healthy size 4 and for not being skinny, a common stereotype of beauty pageant contestants.
"I felt like this year we had a really healthy class of girls, and that’s what the pageant is about, not being skinny and having the clothes fall off your bones, but being fit, healthy and active.
And Mekayla is," she said. "We were at the gym working out together.
She was telling me how she does different sports. We all do." Diehl has ignited a wave of positivity encouraging women to be healthy and not go to extremes of having unhealthy habits to be skinny.
Though Deihl is celebrated for being a healthy role model encouraging young women to be active and healthy, a few critics created backlash by stating that even though she represents something new she isn"t normal.
Their main argument was that the average American woman, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is 5-foot-3 and 166 pounds with a size 12 or 14 waist size and has a BMI of 33. However, the average American woman is 23 pounds overweight. Mission Indiana United States of America 2014, Mekayla Diehl, is the face of the Yummie by Heather Thomson.
She won the 2014 Mission Indiana United States of America pageant qualifying for the Mission United States of America pageant and subsequently finishing in the top 20. She is the first contestant of Native American descent to win Mission Indiana United States of America and the first to represent Indiana for the Mission United States of America 2014 pageant. Nia Sanchez, the winner of the 2014 pageant, stated that Diehl is no different than the other athletic pageant contestants she competed against.
