NATCHEZ — A royal musician at Natchez High School is stepping down from her throne today to crown the next Miss Blue and Gold, an honor bestowed annually on a young lady at the school.

Natchez High School senior Akayla Miller said during her reign it was her duty to be a role model and represent the mighty bulldogs to the school district’s younger students — a duty she would pass on to the 2019 Miss Blue and Gold during a ceremony today.

“I will give my farewell and then crown the new Miss Blue Gold,” Miller said. “It’s about representing Natchez High School and the school district. We go to the elementary schools and do community service projects. It gives the younger kids someone to look up to.”

Last summer, Miller also represented her school during a national Technology Student Association competition in Washington, D.C., after she and her team earned second-place during a state meet in Vicksburg.

Miller said she is a singer and self-taught guitarist and pianist who used her passion for music to compose songs for the competitions.

Miller the daughter of Marinka and Deshaun Jackson and is a member of the National Honor Society, National Beta Club, the Natchez High School Key Club, book club, drama club and poetry club and choir and plays soccer and tennis.

Miller said she plans to study music at William Carey University in Hattiesburg and hopes to become a music therapist and treat clients with emotional and mental health problems.

“I believe you should follow your heart and take your brain with you,” Miller said. “… I want to have passion in whatever I do, and I used to suffer from depression myself. Music was my getaway from my depression, and I want to cure others with my music.”