WILLISTON (AP) - As she prepares to crown her successor, Annette Olson says her favorite experiences as Miss North Dakota involve school tours and kids.

"The little boys tell you they want to marry you, and the little girls want to be you. They all tell you they love you. It's so wonderful to be in a position to have a positive influence on a child's life," she said.

Olson, 24, has traveled to nearly 1,000 speaking engagements in the past year.

This weekend, she returns to Williston to crown the new Miss North Dakota.

"This year has been such an incredible experience, especially in public speaking. I think that's the area where I've learned the most and grown the most," Olson said.

"My platform is promoting the early detection of breast and cervical cancers, so I've gone to a lot women's health events," she said. "I have spoken about my family's experiences with breast cancer and promoted Women's Way (a program that helps eligible women pay for mammograms and cervical cancer screening)."

Olson estimated she has visited 80 schools and talked to 15,000 students about such things as the importance of nutrition physical activity.

"For me, the Miss America experience is a highlight," she said. "But looking back, my favorite experience has been the school tours and the kids. They are just enamored with this idea of royalty, and that you are a queen."

She managed fulfill her duties as Miss North Dakota while employed full-time as an epidemiologist with the state Health Department. She said the job fits her health-related goals, and credits her employers with allowing her a flexible schedule.

"I just think this year of being Miss North Dakota is a year of professional training for the rest of my life, no matter what I do in the future," Olson said.

The Miss America pageant was a great experience, she said.

"Let me tell you, that stage is so big! But it was incredible," she said. "I had a lot of family there. It's so much fun to have them there. I could hear them cheering. It was just really great."

Olson is a native of Baldwin, and a 2005 graduate of Concordia College in Concordia, Minn.

"I was such a tomboy when I was little," she said. "I went to this tiny, one-room country school. There were 14 or 15 boys in my school. I liked to catch gophers, and I was a wrestler.

"Pageants were not something I saw in my future at all. It was funny how it worked out. I always liked to speak in front of groups, and I always liked to perform. I'd get those butterflies, and I just hated that. So I thought if I competed for Miss North Dakota, and I would happen to win, with all of the traveling and speaking and performing I do, I would either spend my year a nervous wreck or just get over it."

She was runner-up the first time she competed, and won the title the second time.

Olson found the pageant contestants were goal-oriented women like herself, and she said they keep in contact.

"Something my family encouraged me to do is never be afraid to try something new, which I think is so important," Olson said. "Don't be afraid to try for new things because it can lead you in some pretty unexpected directions."

Olson said she will continue health-related work, with speaking engagements scheduled through September. She looks forward to this weekend's Miss North Dakota Pageant.

"We have 24 contestants which is as many as we've ever had," she said. "I can just be up there and have a blast and help the other girls to have fun as well."