Student Has Crowning Achievement

Sometimes we don’t know our own potential until an opportunity presents itself. The key is to be ready when the moment arrives.  

And although Ngaarumbidzwe “Rue” Magombedze wasn’t completely sure she was ready when she was named Miss South Carolina Collegiate America 2023, she innately sensed that this was an opportunity that went way beyond the satin sash and sparkling crown. 

“Especially being a woman of color in this space, representing people and bumping into little girls who look like me and are so excited, it’s mind-boggling,” says Magombedze. “It’s a big honor.”  

But she didn’t set out to be a role model when she signed up for her first scholarship pageant in 2021. She was just looking for a way to make friends after moving to Myrtle Beach, S.C. 

She quickly found a place for herself in the local pageant scene. Then, in the summer of 2022, the organizers of the pageant reached out to her about entering the contest.  

By the time she competed for the crown in January 2023 – about halfway through her first year at the College – the double major in theatre and international studies had a better sense than most about how to present herself with poise and power.  

Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Magombedze moved with her parents to the U.S. for her mother’s career in medicine when she was 6 months old. She and her family later relocated to Hampton, S.C., before moving to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, when Magombedze was around 12 years old.  

Living near extended family in the bustling city of more than 2 million people, Magombedze quickly settled into life in her native country – so much so that when her mother decided to take a job near Myrtle Beach a few years later, she chose to stay in Harare, where she had started attending boarding school. 

While at Arundel School for girls, which is among the top 100 high schools in Africa, Magombedze excelled in her academics and embraced new cultures and experiences, including archery, which she continues to practice today. 

Magombedze has brought that same level of tenacious optimism to the College, where she serves as a member of Student Ambassadors, a student-led organization that focuses on the recruitment and retention of first-generation students and students of color. The Jean and Tap Johnson Theatre and Dance Scholarship recipient has also participated in several theatrical productions since starting at the College, including playing one of the main characters in the fall 2023 production of the musical Pippin.  

“I recruited Rue from Horry County,” says Kenyatta Grimmage, associate director of admissions/access initiatives and pre-college programs. “Not only was she sound academically, she was a bold and confident leader who was proud to be a woman of color. I felt in my heart that she would be a change agent here at CofC, and I was right.” 

As her time as Miss South Carolina Collegiate concludes in early 2024, Magombedze, who came in as the second runner-up in the national Miss Collegiate America competition last summer, says all the visits she’s made to schools, community centers and churches to talk about building confidence in today’s youth have given her a new perspective on how she can make differences both big and small.

 “It’s taught me so much about what it means to make an impact,” she says, “and that having an impact doesn’t start or end in any specific space.” – Amanda Kerr