When Reagan Earlywine was a little girl, she had three distinct dreams: to dance across a stage with the Radio City Rockettes, to have a career in the medical field, and to win the title of Miss Kentucky.
On June 13, Reagan walked across the stage of the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center in Bowling Green. She wore a glittering crown and sash and carried a lush bouquet of red roses. Reagan had just been conferred the title of Miss Kentucky 2026. Though the dreams that had danced in her heart for so long didn’t come true in exactly the way she had imagined, they were becoming a reality in many ways.
Little Dancer
Reagan, 24, is the third-born daughter of Angela and Todd Earlywine. She’s a Bourbon County native who loves to sit on her back porch with her dog, drink a good cup of coffee, and listen to the rain. But it’s the way she approaches opportunity that sets her apart from most of her peers.
Reagan joined the Paris-based Town & Village School of Dance family when she was 3. During the school year, she’d be in class for 7½ hours a day, then head straight to Town & Village, where she took more classes, perfecting her skills in tap, ballet and jazz. When she got older, she moved into teaching younger students, passing on the joy that she found in movement.
Though Reagan was studying by day and dancing by afternoon, there was still a part of her dream that had yet to come true. That changed in high school.
“I had always wanted to be a Radio City Rockette. I had seen them in the [Macy’s Thanksgiving Day] parade, and at my dance studio, we had always talked about the Rockettes. The studio owners brought in Broadway stars and people of that nature from New York, and that really inspired me,” Reagan said. “And my mom and dad have always been supportive of my craziest dreams. Obviously, I would not be here right now if it wasn’t for them.”
In high school, Reagan took a trip to see the Rockettes in person. She had a private session with one of the dancers, and the next summer, Reagan auditioned for and won a coveted place in the Rockettes’ weeklong summer intensive program.
While that experience was certainly an opportunity to remember, Reagan was too short to qualify for a long-term position with the elite dance company. Still, she’d found another dream to smile about.
White-Coat Dreaming
“I had always wanted to go to medical school, but as I started getting older, I realized that medical school wasn’t the work-life balance that I wanted for myself,” Reagan said.
That’s when she zeroed in on oral health. She shadowed a few dentists and realized it was the perfect career path for her.
“You get to own your own business, and you get to educate your patients. You get to give back,” she explained. “It’s basically an art in itself because you’re creating these masterpieces, but they’re in someone’s mouth.”
After graduating from Bourbon County High School in 2020, Reagan earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology at the University of Louisville in 3½ years. She then applied for and was accepted to the University of Louisville’s School of Dentistry. Between undergrad and grad school, Reagan dove into work at Dale Family Dentistry in New Albany, Indiana. That experience solidified her drive to become the best oral health professional she could be.
A Presidential Scholar, Reagan ranks 16th out of 120 in her dental school class. She’s won awards such as Excellence in Neuroscience and Anatomy. She laughed when she talked about anatomy during her first year in dental school.
“I got a 72 percent on my very first anatomy test, and I had never gotten that low before. But instead of really dwelling on that defeat, I turned that into motivation. I studied even harder for the next test, and then, by the end of the semester, I was one of the top 10 students to score the highest for that subject,” she said. “I think a lot of people dwell on whenever they fail something in school, but you can really turn any failure into success.”
Concurrent with dance and dentistry was Reagan’s pageant dream. Once again, she turned failure into success.
Dream On
At the tender age of 9, Reagan competed in her first pageant, earning a second-place princess title in the Miss Bourbon County Preteen pageant. When she was 12, she began competing for Miss Kentucky Teen. Shanna Robinson from Town & Village choreographed Reagan’s dance routines, and Reagan worked hard to overcome challenges.
“I was chronically shy. I would be petrified to stand in front of the judges and even try to speak in front of them,” Reagan admitted. “So Miss Kentucky really gave me a voice when I was still trying to find my own and gave me confidence when I needed it the most.”
Reagan persevered in her pursuit of the Miss Kentucky crown, receiving fourth runner-up in 2024 and first runner-up in 2025. After coming so close to winning, Reagan met with UofL academic affairs officials to make sure she could pause school to serve should she win the title. The school approved her leave of absence without penalty, and Reagan competed for what she knew would be her final attempt at the Miss Kentucky crown.
The quote that pushed her forward came from Miss Kentucky 2023, Mallory Hudson.
“She told me a dream deferred is not a dream denied. I think that really encapsulates my journey to the Miss Kentucky crown, but anyone can relate to it,” Reagan said.
To Win a Crown
The Miss Kentucky organization uses a scoring rubric that includes private interview, talent or HERstory (a 90-second personal narrative), health and fitness, evening gown and on-stage conversation. Contestants win a preliminary competition to advance to the state stage. All contestants are aware that winning the state title automatically gives them a bid in the nation’s highest pageant—Miss America.
Each contestant chooses a Community Service Initiative, a cause about which the young woman is passionate. For Reagan, her cause was easy—oral health.
After Reagan was crowned Miss Kentucky in June, she teamed up with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, where she learned how she could expand her Community Service Initiative efforts across the Commonwealth—working with mobile health clinics and engaging students, teaching them about the importance of good oral hygiene.
In addition to fulfilling her duties as Miss Kentucky at home, Reagan will prepare for the Miss America pageant in West Palm Beach in September.
Reagan plans to gather as many remembrances of this amazing journey as she can and place them in a scrapbook.
“Just to have and look back on,” she said. “I think what’s really great is that I loved my life before Miss Kentucky, and I will be content with going back to that life because I get a great career. I get to go to dental school every day and do something that I love.”
For Reagan, dancing toward her dreams really is something to smile about.
Photos By Lauren Neal Photography