Cindy and Bill Rash flew to Las Vegas on Saturday, two days after their daughter, Nicole Rash, arrived as Miss Indiana.
In the city of sin, Cindy arrived planning to see her daughter for just a little bit, she said.
Nicole's schedule is "swamped," she said, and when Nicole does have free time, she either eats a snack or takes a nap.
"Her head is in the game," Cindy said.
But those around Nicole said her past experiences and attributes would help her compete for Miss America, a title it appears she has been preparing for all her life.
Cindy said all the pageants her daughter participated in came with their own learning experiences. Each pageant had different objectives, she said, which included judges asking questions focusing from local to national issues.
But the interview portions offered Nicole the greatest learning experiences, Cindy said.
Nicole learned to be a more independent thinker, she said, something the judges respect.
But her pageant experience isn't all Nicole has to bring to the table, she said. It goes back to her childhood helping her mother and the community.
Her mother said Nicole had been active in her community and socially since she was a child.
Cindy said she remembered how Nicole helped her at the Boys and Girls Club when club members learned to line dance.
At wedding and family socials, Cindy said, Nicole would socialize with the adults, but she knew "her spot."
She also campaigned for The United Way, an organization where Cindy is a Marshall County board member.
In her youth, Nicole's mother said she was always the curious type. She said she recalled a time when Nicole came home from school.
"Mom, I decided that every day I'll learn a new word," Nicole said to her mother's surprise.
Cindy also recalled the time when Nicole wanted to know why ants were some of the strongest animals in the world, she said.
But she always was intellectually curious, she said, which could be unusual from a typical teenage girl.
"If a topic was brought up, she would go home in a day or two to research it," she said.
Nicole's co-director, Frank Ricketts, said after seeing Nicole fulfill her Miss Indiana duties, her focus and determination set her apart from other contestants.
"She has always been on top of her game," he said, "and that will serve her through the week."
In addition to her focus, she has to be mentally tough to survive the week's competition with 51 other contestants, Ricketts said. She knows what she needs to do, and she will do it, he said.
But because of the stronger competition, the stakes have been raised for Nicole.
Ricketts said every contestant was capable of winning the competition because, after all, they were state pageant winners as well.
"Nicole has to have her 'A game' this week," he said.
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