From my first Pageant to Now

I started competing in pageants when I was eight years old. I did National American Miss Florida Jr. Pre-Teen. I had no idea what a pageant was but I loved the experience because it was the first time I ever felt like I was pretty.

I would compete in more pageants throughout the years, but it wasn’t until I was 12 or 13 years old I was really serious about it and had my first pageant coach. My first big title was Miss American Victory Junior Teen from the Miss American Coed Pageants. To this day, it is still one of my most memorable wins. I competed in the state and national title for 4-5 years. The year my little sister was born, I didn’t place in the top 15 at the state pageant. My father told me to give up because I wasn’t as good as the other girls. My parents weren’t even able to see most of the national pageant that year because my sister was born, so my uncle would drop me off and pick me up from the hotel. But even by myself, with no makeup and a plain dress I couldn’t believe I made the top 5! Two years later, I won the national title and couldn’t stop crying tears of joy that I finally did it.

Later on I devoted much of my teen pageant life to competing in Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen. It was then I really developed a platform, and grew my non profit organization Teens Go Green and charity event Miss Miracle. I loved interview but I was so uncomfortable with singing. You can read more about it in my blog post “What I learned after not making Top Ten.”

Within that time, I also competed in several other systems, including National American Miss, International Junior Miss, Miss American Coed, America’s Perfect Teen, Miss Collegiate America, etc. I was really blessed to have the opportunity to represent my state and compete at the national competitions, where I met girls from all over the country.

I still stayed involved in the pageant world, but I slowed down in the amount of pageants I did. I tried to focus on one every year so I could put all my energy into it while balancing out my academia.

In November 2014, I won Miss Earth Florida, and it was the perfect title for me. It combined my love for pageantry and sustainability. I was learning to become more independent during that time, so I would volunteer and take initiatives of my own to promote my platform and the pageant system.

When I competed in Miss Earth United States, I received the element title of US Miss Earth Eco, which was great because I could continue to do what I did on a national scale. I became the Official Spokesperson for Consumers Against Toxic Apparel, and I’m so proud we worked together to put together a 99% sustainable gown.

Becoming US Miss Earth Eco gave me the opportunity to compete in my first pageant overseas. I represented the USA in Taiwan and had one of the best experiences of my life. I met one of my best friends, and from that point on one opportunity came after another. I’ve now competed in Australia, Greece, and India. Each experience has been amazing and I will never be able to express how grateful I am for these opportunities.

Pageantry is something I’m extremely passionate about. I believe all people should try a pageant at least once in their life. It has made me the person I am today, and I cannot wait to see what the future of pageantry holds for me!