She is working on her second graduate degree while getting ready to represent the city and the university at the Miss Texas competition.

Kortnie Koebel has never met a question she couldn’t answer, which should come as no surprise for a person who has never met a goal she couldn’t achieve.

The Texas Tech University student is poised, prepared and polished whatever the subject might be – from the biggest topics to the smallest minutiae.

It comes with the territory of being a pageant contestant, but Kortnie is a natural conversationalist. Unlike some, she doesn’t rely on an interview coach to get her ready. She does her own thing, and it works just fine.

“I don’t do on-stage question prep,” she said, “because I think it’s so important to be authentically myself, and if I have these rehearsed answers, that’s not me. I don’t want to eliminate that aspect of the judges seeing me give real answers. I think taking a pause, understanding what the question is about, analyzing it in your head and then answering is much more appropriate than a rehearsed answer.”

In January, Kortnie was crowned Miss Lubbock. She will compete in the Miss Texas competition in June. It’s the latest in a string of achievements for Kortnie, who is working on her second master’s degree from the Graduate School.

Kortnie is originally from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and she transferred to Texas Tech from Connors State College in Oklahoma, where she earned three associate degrees. She has been equally busy academically since arriving on campus in 2020, completing a bachelor’s in sociology with a focus on criminology and a minor in forensic science with honors.

Her first master’s, completed in May 2025, was in forensic science. She is now working toward completing a master’s in mass communication.

“Growing up, I was heavily involved in agriculture and FFA,” she said. “But when I got to junior college, I met with my criminal justice professor and asked how I could go into law enforcement without becoming a cop because I wasn’t made to be a cop.

“He said, ‘Well, what about crime scene investigation?’”

The seed was planted, and the quest was on. Kortnie expects to begin her career in forensics later this year, and if that path doesn’t work out, she has mass communications as an alternative plan.

“I realized that I wanted to help people, especially those who no longer had a voice,” she said. “I knew forensic science was the best way to go, and once I discovered the program Texas Tech had, I knew this was the right place.”

Finding her Home at Texas Tech

Her suspicions were confirmed during a weekend visit. Kortnie visited campus on a Red Raider football weekend, learned about the Honors College and study abroad, and she couldn’t pack her bags for Lubbock quickly enough.

As an Honors College student, Kortnie was able to take classes that helped prepare her for the demands of the Graduate School as far as writing and researching. For study abroad, she jumped at the Semester at Sea program. The program is available for Texas Tech students interested in visiting multiple countries.

The experience involves a cruise liner that has been converted into a floating campus. Each semester, students and other lifelong learners populate classes and visit a variety of countries. For Kortnie, she saw 16 nations during her semester.

“It was the opportunity of a lifetime,” she said. “We were able to spend a short amount of time in each country, but it was enough to really allow me to immerse myself in different cultures.

“One of my favorite experiences was when a large group of us were in Spain. Some of my friends and family had flown in, so it was a big surprise for all of them when we met a lady who we followed to her favorite restaurant and bonded with her through sharing food and culture.”

As an FFA member, Kortnie benefited from its leadership development and career development events, preparing her for what to expect in certain situations. Studying abroad and the chance to interact with and learn from people of different cultures augmented and amplified her skills.

She originally began attending Texas Tech in 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic and online classes. It was a challenging experience since her only in-person class was yoga, but she made the best of it.

“Kortnie is the kind of person who doesn’t let hardship stop her,” said Bethany Kuwitzky, assistant director of the Study Abroad program in International Affairs. “If anything, challenges have only made her stronger and more determined. When she sets her mind to something, she follows through in a way that makes you believe she will find a way no matter what.”

Bethany and Kortnie met in 2021, and Kortnie was hired as a student assistant in the Study Abroad office in 2023.

She made an immediate impact on the office, advising hundreds of students on study abroad opportunities and helping them understand the process and its benefits.

And while all of those experiences were meaningful, the lingering after-effects of the pandemic also left an impression on her, causing Kortnie to prioritize her mental health.

“The remote learning and lack of socialization were difficult,” she said. “But I quickly discovered Texas Tech has so many clubs and organizations that you can be a part of. When I finished my bachelor’s, I was in more than 10 organizations on campus. I saw it as an opportunity to put myself out there.”

Ironically, that was also a time in her life when Kortnie considered herself shy, not necessarily someone who might compete in pageants and their overtly public nature.

Originally, Kortnie was going to attend graduate school in Australia, but visa issues complicated that option, so she stayed at Texas Tech.

Finding her Place in Pageants

“I like to stay busy, and I was looking for something more, so I told my mom that I wanted to do a pageant,” she remembered. “So, I did my first one, and nothing happened (as far as placing), but it opened the door for so many more opportunities.”

Kortnie saw pageants as a perfect counterbalance to her forensic science aspirations, where separating the job from one’s personal life was critical. Pageants became another outlet, similar to her volunteerism, where she could demonstrate her commitment to mental wellness.

Her self-care involves collecting soda can tabs and using them to create fashion items. She has designed soda-tab clothing items, and the work is a creative outlet for her. She began collecting them several years ago after Red Raider basketball games, but soon, she had a sizable number assembled and wasn’t sure what to do with them.

“I didn’t want to throw them away, and I didn’t want to recycle them,” she said. “I wanted to do something unique, and a big part of pageants is branding yourself.”

With that objective in mind, Kortnie took to Pinterest for inspiration. There are several fashion designers whom she admires in terms of building a unique brand, and then she noticed Miss Universe Thailand had created a dress from soda tabs.

That piqued her interest, and her attention turned to using the tabs creatively to set her apart from pageant competition, especially in the interview portion. It is during that two- to five-minute window when contestants have the chance to make a lasting impression on the judges. She has become so proficient and creative with the soda tabs that Kortnie can now create a design in less than 24 hours.

“I am known as the girl who creates projects out of soda tabs,” she said. “For the Miss America organization, talent is part of it. So, I do a spoken word piece on my talent of creating fashion design.”

There is more to the soda tabs than that, though.

“The soda tabs allow me to have a mental break,” she said. “When I am down or feeling stressed, it’s what I go do. Even when I am watching videos for an exam or something, I work with the soda tabs to keep my hands busy. I am being challenged every time I pick up a tab because I think to myself, “How can I make it better?”

The pageant season will continue for Kortnie in June when she competes for the Miss Texas title. She will travel to Richardson, Texas, for a week along with about four dozen other hopefuls. Contestants will go through an interview phase as well as a fitness assessment before the evening gown competition, after which the top 12 finalists will be named.

The eventual winner will represent the state at the Miss America event.

“We’re all preparing for the end goal of Miss America,” Kortnie said. “Everyone’s dream is to compete and become Miss America. My goal is to make that top 12.”

Between now and then, Kortnie is taking part in numerous community service events as she hopes to make 100 Miss Lubbock appearances before the Miss Texas event.

Busy is the One Who Wears the Crown

“One of my favorite memories, and one that means even more because it’s so recent, was seeing her crowned Miss Lubbock,” Bethany said. “I knew she had moments of doubt, which is completely normal, but I also knew she was ready. I am incredibly happy for her and excited to see what comes next. I truly believe this is just the beginning, and I cannot wait to see her become Miss Texas.”

Kortnie is also proud to represent Lubbock as a Texas Tech student, despite the fact she understands there are some who are critical of pageants because of how they allegedly objectify women and reinforce stereotypes around appearance.

“My ultimate response to that is I am unconventional,” she said. “I have a lot of tattoos, nearly a half-sleeve and on my back, so in terms of being conventionally Miss America, I am not of that mold.”

Rather, Kortnie says she is tall and fit, someone who enjoys working out and someone who has never seen pageants as being about a woman’s “looks.”

“It’s more about what you are doing in the community,” she said. “Miss America (events) don’t care about what you look like. They care about what you’re doing.”

Kortnie reinforces that point with an example of once being interviewed during a pageant and removing her jacket to reveal some of her tattoos. She said the judges asked more questions about her ink than her soda tab projects.

Her favorite tattoo rests on her shoulder and honors her grandfather, a Canada native who opened an automotive repair shop in the Dallas area. The tattoo features a favored vehicle make and model, the shop’s name and her grandfather’s signature.

“It’s definitely one I carry close with me,” she said.

The same is true of her years at Texas Tech, which have given her moments, memories and mental mementos she will carry with her forever.

“Without Texas Tech, I wouldn’t be Miss Lubbock,” she said. “I wouldn’t have gone abroad. I wouldn’t have met amazing people from working at the Study Abroad office. Most importantly, I don’t know where I would be. 

“Every path is there for a reason, even if it’s not the path you intended to take originally. I firmly believe Texas Tech is life changing.”