Vera Smith for Miss Auburn 2025

Interview conducted by Mary Davis. 

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So, Vera, obviously, this is a very exciting day for you and a very exciting week. So just to get to know a little bit about you and, your platform and everything. So you talked about your platform and a lot of it has to do with Auburn community. Do you have an Auburn memory that you think exemplifies the idea of community? You know, it's kinda funny that it's basketball season right now.

Because my freshman year when Auburn played Alabama, I camped out, which during that time, I might have been regretting when it was 3AM and I was on the cement. Mhmm. But it was so cool because all of our friends were around us, and just getting to sit there and feel like I I was a part of the Auburn family, and I was, like, you know, kind of knew as a student. And so that really just was almost like an initiation into, wow. This is so cool.

And, like, I really am an Auburn student, and I get to experience the things that Auburn students do and get to feel the community that Auburn has to offer. So I'd say that or, honestly, anytime rushing the field as a student, which is probably both Texas A and M games, was awesome. Yes. So, honestly, most of them are probably connected with sports events, but, really, I think the special thing about Auburn is anywhere you go on campus, any class you're a part of, any major you're a part of, Auburn family is there, and you feel like you're part of a community. Exactly.

I feel like you sort of answered this with your your, previous statement, but do you have a favorite Auburn tradition? I would say my favorite Auburn tradition is definitely the eagle flying over during her stadium. I think I love how the announcer always says, you know, a tradition that is uniquely Auburn. Mhmm. Because I think Auburn is so unique in that it has so many traditions.

A lot of schools don't have that. And Auburn is such a place of tradition and a place of family, and the eagle flying is just so cool because I think it represents that. And I think visiting fans come, and they think, wow. How cool is this? Every fan in the stadium, 80,000 people are, you know, cheering War Eagles as eagle flies.

So cool. You know? So I would say that's my favorite tradition. Right. Well, and how cool to be a part of the community that represents that.

Absolutely. So because you're so focused on Auburn community, what communities are you involved in on campus? Yeah. So I it kind of goes along with my platform, actually. I am a part of two different colleges, and people would say that they're pretty different.

It's sciences, biomedical sciences, and then also, music. So I'm part of COSAM and then also liberal arts and, specifically, the music department. And I think I've found community in both those colleges in such unique ways because music is generally smaller classes and a lot of music majors that I'm with and, people who play other instruments, whereas, you know, Cosam's a lot of pre health people, larger classes. Mhmm. And it's just so cool to see, you know, being a junior, how even in those large classes, I've kind of been with the same people for a while now, and so I kinda know who to look for.

I have some friends in those classes, but then music is, you know, a class of 30 people, and I've been with them since my first semester freshman year. So seeing those friendships develop in both those ways is really special. I would also say part of Greek life, which has also been a really cool part of my Auburn experience. I'm very thankful for that. I'm very thankful for my church family.

There's just a lot of things that I think Auburn just exemplifies community in. Mhmm. And I'm so thankful to have been a part of it. And, I'm also part of SGA, which has been really cool. So community used to be found everywhere in Auburn, which I think is what makes Auburn so special.

Right. So can you talk a little bit about kinda what drew you, I guess, specifically maybe to your major? Yeah. What kinda drew you to take part in both of those worlds? Yeah.

So I knew, and kind of always known since I was probably, you know, in my early teens that I wanted to become a doctor. Mhmm. And I've just always had that dream. And so Auburn has an incredible, you know, math and sciences department, and, they're very good at getting people into their professional schools. And so I knew, you know, I really wanted to pursue that here at Auburn and, be premed.

But then, also, I played the harp since I was 12, and that just has been a really awesome passion of mine. And it really has brought me so much joy and has blessed me so much because it's not an instrument that people hear a lot. Mhmm. And so getting to play for people, whether that's in, you know, a hospital waiting room as musical therapy or in a nursing home, wherever that is, it really is special to get to watch people as I play and just listen to them. And so I would say I really wanted to find a way to pursue that in college.

Mhmm. And but when I applied, Auburn had no existing program. And so I ended up sending a little email over to the strings faculty in the music department and just asking if there's anything they could do because I wanted to find a way to continue that. And they actually just went above and beyond to make my dreams come true and actually created a whole program for me. That's amazing.

Oh, it was incredible. They they got back to me so quickly and were like, we're gonna try to do this. We're gonna try and hire a teacher. We're gonna try to create a program for you, and that's exactly what they did. And I'm just so blessed to have had the benefit of, working with the Auburn faculty and just, being blessed by them and what they've done for me.

So I would say that was kind of an automatic when they said yes, just being like, absolutely, I wanna do this. So you also mentioned that passions, people being able to follow their passions and their dreams is a big part of your belief system. How has your passion affected I would say it's really cool. You know, people say that music works kind of one side of your brain and, like, sciences and everything work the other side. And I think it's been really cool to do both because I feel like I'm kind of exercising every part of my brain, hopefully.

But it's been really cool, like, academically, you know, to go from an Ochem class where, you know, I'm pretty stressed out about a test to practicing harp, and I feel like that's relaxing and, just gives me kind of a way to to vent if I'm stressed. And I think it's also just been really cool to see the way that I've grown academically in both those programs, like in music theory, in the music department. You know? And also in O. K.

Biochem, what have you, in the science department. I think it's really cool to see the way that Auburn has helped me grow personally as a student, and I really just want every individual student to know that they also can grow here at Auburn and just dig in to the fullest. So within community, connections are also a big thing. Connections with other students, faculty, when you're approaching connections, how do you form connections with other people? How do you kind of approach that?

You know, I think when I was younger, my mom told me that people always love to be asked about them, and I think that that is, like, always stuck with me because, you know, it can be very easily naturally when you're nervous or when you're meeting a new person to just talk about yourself and kind of talk about what you're going through and, just kind of, you know, spurt. But the easiest way to really form connections with people and get to know them is to ask them about themselves because people it makes people feel so special. You know? And I think, it's just such an important part of forming friendships just to really know and make sure you're asking and checking in on people, people, because I think that's really the easiest way to form connections is just making sure you are asking people about them. Mhmm.

Is there a connection you've made during your time here that stands out to you? Wow. That's a great question. I mean, there are so many, whether it's friends, teachers, faculty members. Every I mean, everyone here at Auburn truly is so incredible.

I would say that my teacher who taught me the harp was really cool to just just see the way that, we grew because I took two years of lessons from her And, you know, had never met her before the first day in the first lesson. And it was just so cool to see that friendship and that relationship develop. And I think it helped me grow so much as a harpist. I mean, she just truly changed my trajectory as a musician. And I'm just so thankful for that relationship because I think it's one that, you know, I needed and just helped me to grow so much and also just form another relationship and friendship that I'll cherish forever.

That's beautiful. Do you have anything else you'd like to add? Wow. I mean, I guess that this is just a place that I never thought I would be. And, just stepping on this campus, it's so cool to just see, you know, two and a half years down the road being a junior, you know, how much I've been blessed here at Auburn, and just standing in these shoes I never thought I could ever be in.

It's just so cool to just look around and see the all that Auburn has done for me. So War Eagle. War Eagle. Thank you. Thank you.