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“It’s funny,” Nina said. “When I went into Miss America, I kind of had this feeling and it was almost a calming, peaceful feeling, I suppose.”
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The entire experience was very surreal, according to Nina.“It was an out-of-body experience.” There was (and always is) a total of two weeks of preparation leading into the competition with three nights of preliminaries, which no one saw, unless they were in Atlantic City and in attendance of the competition. “People see the finals [on TV],” Nina said. “That Sunday morning for the final, it was a sense of calm that came over me.” To be calm in a moment with a large crowd in front of the stage and an unknown number watching the telecast is a moment to be thankful for.
A PATH OF PAGEANTS Nina, a former Miss Michigan Outstanding Teen of 2006, began competing in the Miss America Organization (MAO) competitions when she was 16 years old. Because she waited until her teen years to enter the pageant world, Nina was never exposed to the somewhat peculiar realm of “Toddlers in Tiaras.” “I have never seen kid pageants. I was never exposed to that,” Nina said. “Pageants are not in my culture. I made that my decision.” Nina’s family was very supportive and they encouraged her in this decision. “For me, it was a lot about the Miss America Organization,” she said. “I got to share my talent and share my culture. It aligned with everything that was important to me.” What attracted Nina to this line of pageants? “Miss America is based on service and scholarship,” said Nina as she explained that other televised and well-known pageants such as Miss USA are more about “modeling.” For Nina, she was looking to compete and find her own niche. “You align yourself with what is most important [to you] and to your values and ideals.” In addition, Nina takes pride in her title because the MAO program is the longest standing of its kind. Along with her title and crown, came a $50,000 scholarship for her future educational goals. According to missamerica.org, the Miss America Organization is one of the nation’s leading achievement programs and the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. Nina says that it is thanks to the MAO scholarship program that she was able to graduate from the University of Michigan completely debtfree. She earned $10,000 from her Miss New York title and $50,000 from her Miss America title, and all of it will go toward her medical school education. “It’s a wonderful resource,” she added.
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january 2013 :: rochesterWomanMag.com