To put the reigning Miss Troy Meghan Kelly into the cubbyhole of pageant queen would be grossly underestimating who she is.

Sure, this blue-eyed blonde looks like she was born to wear a tiara and sash, but there is a little more to her than evening gowns and make-up.

"When I went to a church camp a few years ago the director couldn't remember my name, so he called me Critter Girl because I was always playing with the bugs," Kelly said.

That's right, Troy's 2003 beauty queen is a genuine tomboy.

"I have a natural interest in science," the hopeful biologist said.

"I love collecting as many facts as I can."

She also has an affinity for the outdoors, but that doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate being a girl.

"I like doing girly things," she said.

"My favorite thing about marching season is putting on the make-up, doing my hair and putting on my outfit and performing."

Kelly is a majorette at Charles Henderson High School and will also be a majorette at Troy State University next fall.

"I think it will be a lot of fun," Kelly said.

"There are a lot of away games this year and it will be exciting to travel."

She received a band scholarship to TSU and to meet its requirements, Kelly will twirl the baton with the marching band and play the clarinet in the symphony band or the concert band.

Her scholarship success doesn't stop there.

TSU also awarded Kelly the Chancellor's Scholarship, which will cover all of her tuition and whatever her band scholarship does not.

Kelly plans to jump-start college with two classes this summer before she goes full-time in the fall.

"I'd like to major in marine biology," she said.

"But I think I'll explore around before I decide on particulars.

There are a lot of different kinds of biology."

Aside from maintaining a 4.0 GPA, Kelly busies herself with several school clubs, not to mention her duties as Miss Troy.

Kelly is a member of the National Honors Society, the Art Club and the Spanish Club, but the list goes on.

In March, she traveled to Spain with CHHS Spanish and art classes.

"It was so great," she said.

"It has amazing architecture."

The trip also opened her eyes to a new type of culture.

"Their culture was so different," Kelly said.

"The food they ate was very different.

They had squid, different seafood dishes and they ate roast baby pigs."

She said they had wine with almost every meal.

As Miss Troy, the busy high school senior admits she expected to be even busier.

"Things are slow right now, but I expect them to get busier," she said.

She has already attended a ribbon cutting at Steve's Printing and today she will be a Newsboy for The Messenger and sell papers for Relay for Life.