VINCENNES, Ind. (AP) – An Indiana woman who grew up in the state's prime melon-growing country has been crowned the National Watermelon Queen.

Emily Brown of Vincennes is the reigning Illiana Watermelon Queen. And last week she beat out six other women during the National Watermelon Convention in La Quinta, California, to claim the national crown. 

The 21-year-old will now travel the world promoting watermelon, with stops that will include Florida, Canada and Japan. 

Brown tells the Vincennes Sun-Commercial (http://bit.ly/1JIEsRV ) “it's the experience of a lifetime.''

She's in her last semester studying nursing at Vincennes University. Brown grew up in Knox County, a southwestern Indiana county that has many watermelon and cantaloupe farms.