{ YOUNG & INSPIRING }
YOU ARE ENOUGH. CROWNED WITHIN BY ARENA NICOLE IHEROUX I PHOTOS NSP STUDIOAND SANDY ARENA BY ANNALIESE PHOTOSWILLIAMS BY SHELDON SMITH, BY BOB SCHULTZ
FINDING TRUE SELF LOVE AND WORTH IN MY JOURNEY OF PAGEANTRY I competed in the Miss High School America (MHSA) national pageant this past June. I’ve been competing in various pageants since I was eight years old and when I tell people that, I often get questions about what they’re like and what I do. I’ve given the “What is a pageant anyways?” spiel countless times, because they are sometimes perceived as strictly beauty contests. To put it simply, they are definitely not.
about sharing your goals, ambitions, and heart with the judges. It’s also a chance to share about what you’ve done to volunteer in your community leading up to the competition and about your platform. My personal platform is called “Scars to Hearts” and is all about turning life’s hardest
My biggest project of the year was hosting a Miss BRAVE Self-Love Showcase where I shared my self-love message and at the end of the day, there was a show and each girl had their moment in the spotlight in a beautiful gown to showcase the self-love we built up throughout the day. As you can see, there’s a lot that goes into this one week of competition and it’s much more than just a pretty face.
We are judged on communication skills, how we present ourselves on stage, the volunteer work we do, creating a platform that supports a cause we want to make a difference in, and we usually spend about a year doing this all this in preparation for the actual competition to happen. Every pageant system is different, but the particular pageant I just competed in consisted of three areas of competition: Interview, Evening Gown, and Fun Fashion. Evening gown and Fun Fashion are the onstage events where we walk with poise and confidence to showcase our skills and personality to the judges. I have always loved being onstage so these events are particularly fun for me. Interview is all 74
ROCHESTER WOMAN ONLINE : JULY EDITION 2021
sharing. The platform is BRAVE, which stands for Building Respect and Value for Everyone. It’s an antibullying message and it’s our main job to focus on spreading it. For me, BRAVE was a lot more than just a job I was required to do. I have my own story of being bullied throughout high school, so sharing the message was very meaningful to me. I not only shared about building respect and value for others, but about building that same respect and value for yourself through self-love.
moments into something beautiful. It was based on my journey with my mental health and how I’ve used that to advocate and help others. For MHSA, we also have a national platform that every girl has the responsibility of
I did not walk away from the week with a national title or even a top 15 placement. Every pageant girl has had their wins and had their losses, and throughout my years of competing, I have always taken my losses very hard. But this time, I didn’t, because it was not a loss. I truly had a self-revelation. I realized that I had spent an entire year working hard and doing meaningful things. I had put my best foot forward on
