Miss Alabama Competes Sunday for the Miss America Crown

Andrew Yeager | September 9, 2016

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This Sunday is the big day for Miss Alabama Hayley Barber as she competes for the Miss America crown. The Pelham native and UAB senior won the top state honor earlier this year and says that actually takes some pressure off competing at the national level.

“At the end of the day, even if I don’t win, I get to go back and still be Miss Alabama,” says Barber. “[It] is the greatest job in the world to me and something I always wanted to be was Miss Alabama and represent my state.”

On Tuesday, Barber won the Quality of Life Award which is given for impact in community service and volunteering. Barber’s platform is called “Sight for Small Eyes” and promotes eye exams for children. She says it stems from the fact she never had her eyes checked until she was 16, when she wanted a driver’s license.

“So I knew other people my age and younger than me were neglecting to speak up about their vision impairments because I did,” says Barber.

The UAB senior plans to study optometry with a goal of opening her own pediatric optometry practice.

See Barber’s tap dancing in the preliminary talent competition: