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Spc. Maura Spence, an intelligence analyst assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, displays her sash after winning the Miss Colorado pageant, June 8, 2021. Two reasons for Spence’s drive to compete in Miss Colorado and Miss America are to spread awareness for mental health and to keep the memory and dreams of her departed sister alive. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Matthew Marsilia) courtesy photo
Chancey Bush, The Gazette
Spc. Maura Spence-Carroll, 21, holds her gown at Fort Carson south of Colorado Springs last week, May 12, 2021. Spence-Carroll joined the Army in 2018 and is competing for Miss Colorado. She earned the title of Miss Fort Carson in February. (Chancey Bush/ The Gazette)
Living with anxiety, depression and undiagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was hard enough, but when her 5-year-old sister drowned after falling off a dock in 2015, Maura Spence-Carroll was devastated.