As 2025 comes to a close, we’re taking a moment to revisit some of the stories that resonated most across the 280 corridor. These aren’t just top clicks or biggest headlines — they’re pieces that captured something real about the people, places and moments that defined the year.
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Photo courtesy of Emma Terry.
The 2025 Miss Alabama winner is Emma Terry, a UAB graduate who competed in the pageant as Miss Hoover. Photo courtesy of Miss Alabama Organization.
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Photo courtesy of Emma Terry.
Her grandfather’s battle with ALS inspired Miss Alabama Emma Terry’s platform of service raising more than $360,000.
The crown sparkled under the stage lights at Samford University’s Wright Center as the tearful former Miss Hoover, Emma Terry, was crowned Miss Alabama 2025.
For Terry, this moment signified far more than the beginning of her reign. It was the culmination of years of pageantry excellence, determination, discipline and a dancer’s poise.
With Terry’s southern charm and unstoppable determination, she now aims to give Alabama back-to-back Miss America titles — and to show the persistence honed through years of competition and life challenges.
Her crowning as Miss Alabama came just months after finishing two college degrees and undergoing unexpected heart surgery, a year after finishing runner-up to former Miss Hoover Abbie Stockard, the woman who would become the 2024 Miss America.
“I don’t think I had anything running through my head when they said my name other than thank you, God. Thank you God, for placing me here, for the experiences that I’ve had, for the people who have supported me and helped me get here,” Terry said of her moment after her name was called as the next Miss Alabama.
“The things running through my mind were centered around gratitude and excitement.”
Photo courtesy of Emma Terry.
Her grandfather’s battle with ALS inspired Miss Alabama Emma Terry’s platform of service raising more than $360,000.
Terry’s crowning moment came years after learning resilience as a teenage caregiver to her grandfather battling ALS. At 22, the UAB graduate now carries her grandfather’s motto, “build a higher road,” to the national stage.
“She truly embodies everything you could hope for in a titleholder. I knew this was going to be her year because her hard work started from day one after winning Miss Hoover,” Miss Hoover Organization Director Julie Bentley said. “She has a genuine love for people and a natural ability to connect with them, whether she’s speaking with adults or children.”
“Watching her interact with others, you can tell this isn’t just a title to her.”
The start of Terry’s passion for the crown and her road to Miss America began with the Miss Alabama Teen competition as a timid 14-year-old. Terry said she joined to break out of her shell, gain confidence and become a more empowered version of herself.
“I felt my knees shake and go weak and I thought, oh my word, what have I gotten myself into?” Terry said of her first pageant interview. “I knew that I was not going to have my name announced as a runner up or as a winner that night.
“But there was a new sense of confidence and empowerment that I had gained just by being on the stage and just by competing.”
With newfound confidence, Terry began steadily climbing the pageant ranks to her first runner-up finish in the Miss Alabama competition last year, with the crown going to Miss America winner Abbie Stockard. Terry credited her friends, family, professors and mentors who supported her this time.
Terry, her voice thick with emotion, expressed deep gratitude for the support that carried her to this moment.
Photo courtesy of Miss Alabama Organization.
The 2025 Miss Alabama winner is Emma Terry, a UAB graduate who competed in the pageant as Miss Hoover.
Through her early pageantry career, she won titles such as Miss Cahaba Valley Teen, Miss Leeds Area Teen and Miss Alabama Teen 2021. In 2023, she was crowned Miss UAB and finished as a runner-up at Miss Alabama, followed by a first runner-up placement the next year as Miss Jefferson County, until finally, this year, her crowning moment as Miss Hoover.
“Something I’ve told Emma is that ‘baby
it’s all about timing and it just wasn’t your time yet,’ but this year is her time,” Bentley said of the journey.
“Everything she’s been through has prepared her for this. She’s elegant, calm and sophisticated in high-stress situations. She’s just such a kind and driven person and she’s worked so hard for this moment.”
Everything she’s been through has prepared her for this. She’s elegant, calm and sophisticated in high-stress situations. She’s just such a kind and driven person, and she’s worked so hard for this moment.
Julie Bentley
The hard work of overcoming adversity and putting extra hours in with her trainers, paying attention to the minute details of her dance routine and honing her interviewing skills finally led Terry to the crown.
However, something that sets Terry apart is her passion for helping others. Terry has used her platform to turn personal hardship into purposeful action. Her grandfather’s battle with ALS has deeply impacted her family. As a teenager, she often found herself stepping into the role of caregiver alongside her mother. She balanced the emotional weight with school, dance, pageants and community service.
That experience laid the groundwork for her community service initiative, “Stomping Out ALS,” where over the years she has raised more than $360,000 for the cause.
“He was one of the most resilient and incredible individuals that I’ve ever known,” Terry said of her grandfather. “I’ve learned resilience and determination from him. He taught me his life motto, to build a higher road. For him that meant to build a higher road for future generations and his family, but it also means to leave your world and your community better than you found it.”
Photo courtesy of Emma Terry.
Emma Terry with Gov. Kay Ivey after winning Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen.
Terry’s passion for raising awareness took center stage throughout different competitions. Guided by her Grandy’s motto, Terry has used every opportunity to amplify voices affected by ALS.
Terry has turned the struggles of everyday life into motivation as she continues preparing for the Miss America 2026 competition, set for Sept. 2-7 in Orlando, Florida.
It will be a quick turn, but Terry said she’s prepared to compete and to allow joy and gratitude to radiate regardless of the stage she is on. From Hoover to America, she’s ready.
“At the end of the day, that’s a random panel of judges. It’s a random group of five people that are putting a score on a sheet of paper, and that is not what defines you,” she said. “That’s not what defines your worth. So I want to go have the best Miss America experience that I can, and results will not define that because I know that I can walk in and I’m just so grateful to be representing the state of Alabama.”
Reflecting on her journey, Terry hopes her story will inspire other young women to also build higher roads for themselves and their communities — to believe in themselves just as she started to do at 14, no matter their background, economic status or challenges.
“I started in this organization as someone who was shy and had zero self-confidence. I didn’t know I could do it, too,” Terry said. “I come from a single-parent household. I was a young caregiver for my grandfather. I’ve overcome an eating disorder and had unexpected heart surgery. The opportunities presented to me through this organization have allowed me to become the empowered, confident, resilient person I am today.”
“You don’t have to be crowned Miss Alabama to gain something from this program,” Terry said. “Just jump in. The life skills, the memories and the growth you’ll find here truly last a lifetime.”
