How I won after I didn’t Make Top Ten – Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen
In just a few hours, they will crown a new Miss America’s Outstanding Teen. I remember when I was about 10 years old I was helping my mom sell crown purses at the trade show there and was mesmerized by all the state queens there. I was just starting to get more involved in pageants, and I remembered wanting to get to that point in my pageant career where I could compete on that national stage.
When I was finally eligible to compete, I was honored to win the Miss Central Florida Outstanding Teen title! I put myself out there at different events and networked with many people to promote my non-profit organization Teens Go Green. At another local pageant I learned about Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and wanted to start doing whatever I could to raise funds. So, my mom and I started the first Miss Miracle pageant and raised $3,072 at an indoor pool! I made top ten at Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen, made some really great friends, and most of all really pushed myself to do something bigger than me. I knew I wanted to do better and would continue working towards that goal.
The following year I competed I made top ten again, but was very proud of myself for improving my own speaking skills and overall abilities. I was never good in talent because I couldn’t sing well, and I was terrible in fitness wear because I have really lanky bad coordination, but I enjoyed being on stage regardless and everything I was able to do throughout my community.
And then it was my third year, and this time I really wanted to become Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen. Every year I’d seen them compete at Miss America’s Outstanding Teen I was always in awe, and told myself some day I will be up on that stage. So I worked extremely hard to try to get there.
I would get trained on every aspect of the pageant, even for opening dance number. I would go to my neighbor’s house to practice the stage routines in the mirror for 1-2 hours by myself everyday. I had voice lessons, practiced cardio moves, and volunteered at least once or twice a week on the weekends. But I would also let everyone else’s opinion get in the way of my own. I just thought the more criticism and opinions I heard, the more practice I would do, the better I would become.
On a daily basis I would read those Voy boards and search if people were saying anything about me. Sometimes they were nice, but most of the time they were not. From my looks, to my singing, to my lack of coordination, every aspect about me was critiqued. But what got to me the most was when an anonymous user said I didn’t deserve to compete for the pageant, as I didn’t work for it and I was just given a title. I was naive and didn’t know what to think of myself when the pageant came around. I didn’t really talk to as many people and got so anxious competing I let my nerves get the best of my performance. I knew my talent wasn’t any good and my fitness wear would be a mess, but I didn’t even enjoy being on stage because I just felt like everyone in the crowd was just waiting for that to happen.
During the final night of Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen, I did not hear my name called out to be in the top ten. After placing for the last two years and working as hard as I possibly could to win the whole title, I didn’t make the top ten and I had to move on. I wasn’t going to bring Teens Go Green to the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen stage, I wasn’t going to be the ambassador for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and I wasn’t going to receive the college scholarships they give at the national pageant.
Five years has passed, and I have continued to do what I love doing from there. From pageants to volunteering and more. I have finally learned to stop worrying about what everybody else thinks about me and really understand what is it that I want to do and what will make me happy. I do my own thing and if there is any sort of problem I will do what I can to fix it. I will never stoop to a level of Internet backlash, and to all the girls that still have to deal with it today, please know that it’s not you that’s the problem, because if it was it would be addressed in person. It honestly didn’t bother me that much when people said I couldn’t sing, because they were not wrong, but if someone has to hide behind a computer screen to let me know how they feel, I only wish I could see them in person and talk about it if it’s that much of a concern to them. If I focused my life around these superficial insignificant things, I could lose precious moments with those I love. Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
I didn’t gain a state crown from competing in Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen for three years, but I gained so much more. From the lessons I learned, to the skills I developed, to the network I grew, and the incredible opportunities afterwards.
The year I stopped competing at MFOT, Teens Go Green gave me the opportunity to be on Good Morning America with Sam Champion and Debbie Ryan as a Disney Friends for Change. I met environmental ambassadors from all around the world that inspired me to make what I do become my livelihood. Today I just left a tour of Arnold Palmer Hospital with this year’s Miracle Royalty because we have raised over $89,000 for Children’s Miracle Network and had kids from there model at our Model 4 Miracles fashion show. And now I go to school at the University of Miami on a full ride scholarship. God works in mysterious ways. I wanted to be Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen hoping that all of these things could happen through winning, and rather than the title it was everything else I gained through that experience that really catapulted me to where I am today.
Life is what you make of it, whether you win or lose. It is about the journey and not so much the destination. The only thing we can control is the way we react to each situation and what we make from what we have gained. This summer, pageant season has been absolutely crazy, and too often I see ladies get so fixated on the crown if they do not place where they wanted they lose sight of the big picture and all the opportunities that can come from what is gained in the experience. I understand because I was in that same position too. I wish everyone at Miss America’s Outstanding Teen the best of luck and every girl competing in their respective pageants now. So many other girls would dream to be in the positions we are so blessed to be in. And thank you to every individual who spent countless hours working with me and supporting me through it all and getting me where I am today, I can’t express how grateful I still am you have been such an impact in my life.
This post was originally listen on my personal blog misselizabethtran.wordpress.com but was transferred over to this pageant page
