When I was in the seventh grade my best friend, Brooke, wanted to compete in the Jr. Miss Becker County Fair pageant...but not alone. She convinced me to sign up and I was put on a short wait list. The day I got the call that someone dropped out of the pageant and I was in, Brooke was over at my house. I ran out with excitement ready to tell her the good news that we would be competing in the pageant with her. After I told her, she informed me that she was the girl who dropped out. Imagine that! I decided to do it anyway in the hopes to meet new friends and gain confidence. Cindy Moore was the director of the pageant and did a great job making every girl feel comfortable and beautiful for the night of the pageant. I went into that night with very little experience and came out with higher self esteem, new friends, and the title of first runner-up!
Since that night I have continued to compete in pageants for the last eight years. I have competed in nearly 15 pageants and won five local titles, but the crown and title are not why I do them. I compete to enhance my public speaking skills, build new relationships, earn money to pay for my college degree, and give back to others through my non-profit organizations. Throughout the years of competing I have gained so much confidence in myself. I have learned how to easily speak in front of a small or large crowd while even having to think quick on my feet. Past directors have watched me compete over the years and they have told me how much they enjoy watching me and other young girls grow in confidence and maturity from when we are 13 to 14 and to now. Pageants have help me be much more comfortable in a job interview, public speaking classes, or when I have to present a project presentation for class. Over the years I have met new friends and now I am proud to say that I have a new extended family. My pageant family! In the last four years of competing in scholarship pageants I have won over $5000 towards the costs of my college education. Last year alone, Miss America gave away over $45 million in scholarship awards for local, state, and national competitors combined! This doesn't even include other scholarship pageants that are not affiliated with the Miss America organization. Because service is one of the four points Miss America focuses on in there pageants, women competing through the organization raise awareness for participating Children's Miracle Network hospitals as well the platform issue of their choice. Since I have been involved with Habitat for Humanity for six years, it was easy for me to choose that non-profit organization as my personal platform. It doesn't have to be a non-profit organization though. One of my many pageant friends, Brooke Kilgarriff, chose music as her personal platform. Her focus was to keep music in schools because she strongly believes, and studies have proven, that it helps children's learning capacities.
I believe nothing but good has came out of my pageant experiences. I have had to face many hurdles, but they have only made me stronger. I took those challenges head on and learned from them. All the benefits I have just talked about with my personal experience should be enough to convince a young woman to compete in a local pageant. I will also be adding another personal testimonial from Brooke Kilgarriff, Miss Minnesota 2009! She will also inform you of the benefits she has experienced from scholarship pageants. Please feel free to comment on this post. I would love to hear your thoughts if you are someone or know someone who has competed, are currently competing, or wish to compete in a scholarship pageant.
My proudest moment:
Winning the Miss America Community Service Award at Miss Minnesota!
Always,
Tiffany Schulstad-Peterson
Miss Moorhead 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment