VIDALIA — Vidalia High School senior Alexa Mallory came out of retirement for the Miss Vidalia pageant at the end of January, and it was a good thing she did.

Mallory joined the pageant and won the title of Miss Vidalia 2011, after not competing since she was a young girl.

“I don’t have words to describe it,” she said about winning the title. “I was so excited. This was the first one I had done in a long time.”

At the age of 18, Mallory said she remembers singing at the pageant when she was a little girl.

“The pageant was something we all kind of looked forward to doing,” she said.

The Miss Vidalia crown always goes to a VHS senior that best represents the city, and Mallory has a long list of credits to why the crown was bestowed to her.

With a GPA of 4.0, Mallory is in line to be valedictorian or salutatorian, while also cheerleading, performing ballet, singing in the choir and being an active member of First Baptist Church of Vidalia.

“It is really important to stay focused while you are in school,” she said. “With all this work, there have been times where I have been stressed, but I am glad to say that I have tried my hardest.”

Mallory said she plans on attending the University of Louisiana at Monroe after she graduates, and that she already has a head start on some of her future classmates.

“I am already going to be going into college with 12 hours of credits,” she said. “I am just trying to be prepared.”

Mallory said while English has always been her favorite subject, she plans on going into pre-med while attending ULM, because she wants to help people.

“My mom and my grandma are both English teachers,” she said. “I told them I just didn’t get the teacher gene.”

Mallory said with her work in pre-med, she hopes to one day work with cancer patients.

“A lot of people think I am crazy because so many of the patients I would be working with lose their lives, but I just want to be able to help someone out and make their day,” she said.

Mallory said while her senior year is almost over she is glad she has remained focused on her schoolwork over the years.

“My mom is just a role model in general,” she said. “There are so many reason I can name to how she has helped, I can’t begin to name them all.”

Alexa is the daughter of Fred and Tanya Mallory.