51����

JACKSON, Tenn. — Aug. 2, 2019 — For Union alumni couple Ben and Juliana Wilson, 2019 has been a year of unexpected opportunities, from Ben competing on the “American Ninja Warrior” TV show to Juliana winning the Mrs. Tennessee United States crown and competing in the 2019 Mrs. United States National Pageant in Las Vegas Aug. 1-4.

“This has been a crazy year, to kind of sum it all up,” Juliana said. “A year ago, neither one of us expected to be doing the things that we’re doing right now. It’s just cool that God’s just given us this opportunity, and we want to try to make the most if it, however long it lasts.”

Ben, 29, grew up in Jackson, and Juliana, 30, is from Lawrenceburg. They met at Union in 2010 while Ben was studying chemistry and Juliana (whose maiden name is Robbins) was studying broadcast journalism. Ben proposed a month after they graduated in the spring of 2012, and they were married in June 2013.

The Wilsons now live in an apartment in downtown Nashville. Ben graduated in May from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy in Nashville and is studying for his licensing examinations. Once he gains his licensure, he plans to work as a pharmacist. Juliana works for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board in Franklin as the communications and childhood missions specialist in the Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union department. She also works part-time as a certified instructor at Pure Barre, a fitness studio.

For both Ben and Juliana, their time at Union helped shape who and where they are today. Juliana was a freshman when the EF-4 tornado hit Union’s campus on Feb. 5, 2008. She said she struggled for a year after the tornado, but was surrounded by people at Union who encouraged her to rely on Christ.

“I grew in my faith tremendously during that time at Union,” she said. “I went from being a pastor’s kid in the Southern Baptist Convention going to Union to that faith really being my own and taking ownership in it, and realizing I wanted to take a direction in my life that could further the gospel somehow, someway.”

At Union, Juliana was also well prepared for her career in public relations and marketing. She anchored the first episode of “Jackson 24/7,” Union’s former student-produced television news program that is now called “West TN Today.” She also took Union’s first class on social media taught by Ashley Blair, acting chair and associate professor of communication arts.

Ben agreed that his time at Union, both inside and outside the classroom, was life-changing. Not only did he meet his wife, but he found role models in the faculty and staff and learned to be independent and pursue his own goals.

“I think that it is hard to go to Union and not come away transformed,” he said.

In mid-February this year, Ben received a call from the producers of NBC telling him that he was selected to participate on “American Ninja Warrior,” an obstacle course competition series. Being on the show had been a longtime goal of his.

“I’ve always really been into fitness, and always loved ‘American Ninja Warrior’ since I was a kid,” he said. He liked the idea of being an all-around athlete. “I was always like, ‘I could do these obstacles. I could totally do that.’”

Ben had submitted an audition video four years ago, but did not make it onto the show. He decided to stop pursuing it while he focused on pharmacy school, but during his last semester, he thought, “might as well give this another shot.” He submitted another audition video at the end of 2018 and to his surprise was invited to the Atlanta qualifiers in March.

Seeing Ben pursue his goal inspired Juliana to do the same: “I decided that I wanted to go after one of my lifelong dreams, and that was to have the opportunity to represent my home state at a national pageant.”

Juliana had just one month to prepare for the state pageant — other contestants had spent nine to 10 months preparing, she said. Before she and Ben were married, Juliana had competed in Miss Tennessee in Jackson and Miss Tennessee USA, but “it had been seven years since I had been on a stage in that capacity.”

She was crowned Mrs. Tennessee United States on March 17. Since then, Juliana has been doing community service, speaking at events, keeping physically fit, preparing for the National Pageant and promoting her personal platform, “Look Up,” which raises awareness about social media safety and its impact on mental health.

The weekend after Juliana was crowned, the Wilsons traveled to Atlanta to film Ben’s ANW competition. He ran two courses: he made it through the Atlanta qualifiers, which aired June 4 on NBC, and also ran in the finals, but his clip did not make it into the aired show. Although he did not make it through to the ANW Las Vegas Finals, he plans to keep training and audition again next year.

“It’s never guaranteed that you’re going to be invited back again, but I’m hopeful that I did well enough this year that I’d be back,” he said.

He already has big plans for his next audition: if Juliana wins the national title of Mrs. United States, she has agreed to try out for ANW with Ben. But Juliana said she is a “one goal at a time” type of person, and right now her goal is to win the National Pageant. The competition will include a personal interview with each judge, an on-stage interview portion, a lifestyle and fitness portion, and an evening gown portion. A winner will be crowned on Sunday, Aug. 4.

“I would love to just have the opportunity to promote my platform of talking about social media and how that it can actually cause depression, anxiety,” Juliana said. “Just encouraging people to turn their focus to Christ, to really look up and make a difference in the world and in the lives of others.”

People may see the Wilsons’ accomplishments and call them a “power couple,” but they disagree.

“God has opened some really unexpected doors for us, but this year hasn’t been perfect,” Juliana said. “We’ve definitely faced challenges, and the door that we expected God to open, he hasn’t. He’s given us a different path that I don’t think either one of us had expected.”

Ben said he thought he would already be licensed and working as a pharmacist right now. He thinks some of the disappointments and hard things they have encountered will potentially “give me, give Juliana, give us a story and maybe be able to help somebody down the road going through the same or similar situations.”

Their circumstances are not typical for a couple their age, the Wilsons said. Most of their friends now own a house and have a child or two, but “we’ve always been a little different,” Ben said. He said he thinks of themselves as an “odd couple” rather than a “power couple,” but not in a bad way. He loves who they are and what they are doing, but knows their situation is “unique” and even “weird” — “but I’m totally OK with being weird,” Ben said.

“Where we are right now is certainly not my five-year plan when I was 25, but I would not trade where we are now for where I thought we would be,” Juliana said. “I think all goals that you set for yourself, you’ve got to leave room for improvement and change for the Lord to work.”

Through their journey together and this unexpected year of opportunities, Juliana said she and Ben want to “use the glories and gifts that God’s given us to bring glory and honor to him,” and to continue trusting the Lord to guide them.

“That is easy to say, but hard to do,” Juliana said. “Trust the Lord with your future, and he’ll guide your steps. That’s just what we’re trying to do.”