Miss Southeast Texas 2020 Sydni Leonard Sydni Leonard is a 2017 graduate of Ridge Point High School and is currently a Senior at the University of Houston pursuing a degree in Psychology and minor in Biology. After graduation, Sydni has aspirations to attend medical school to pursue Dermatology. Her long term goal is to own her own med spa, merging her knowledge of psychology and dermatology to promote healthy skin and a positive outlook on life. Sydni is no stranger to a challenge, so when a brochure came in the mail last year recruiting contestants for Miss Texas USA, she jumped at the opportunity. Although this was her first pageant, she placed in the top 15 out of 84 contestants. This activated her love for pageantry because she was surrounded by women doing and promoting positive things. She was recently crowned Miss Southeast Texas USA 2020 and is busy preparing for the Miss Texas USA 2021 pageant in May. She is excited to use her platform to highlight the importance of mental health, volunteering and healthy living. When she is not busy with pageants, she enjoys volunteering in her community. One of her favorite volunteering opportunities is through Girls Empowerment Network. She volunteers weekly whereas she uses her own experiences to encourage girls to be confident in who they are by covering a wide range of topics such as joking vs bullying, the realities of social media and internet safety. She loves to be a part of this organization because she wishes that she had a mentor to guide her through the difficult parts of growing up and especially middle school. Don’t let her size fool you! Even as a young child, Sydni has always loved to eat. So it’s no surprise that one of her favorite hobbies is cooking. Her motto is, “healthy food can taste great!”. She focuses on healthy foods by creating her own meals with fresh ingredients which has prompted her to learn how to garden. Sydni encourages others to use fresh products and cook more as a means of healthy living. Sydni believes that happiness is a choice. Everyday we get to choose how we respond to the ups and downs of life. Let’s choose to be happy.