When I was ten, I found my spirit animal in Sandra Bullock’s Miss Congeniality character Gracie Hart. Although the movie secured its everlasting place in my top ten, I never thought I would end up competing in Pageants. However, when I was 16, I began my preparation for Miss Florida Teen USA. When Sandra Bullock said, “I realized that these women are smart, terrific people who are just trying to make a difference in the world. And we’ve become really good friends", she really meant it. Pageantry has taught me countless life lessons and helped shape me into the woman I am today.

Unfortunately, since entering the world of pageantry, my involvement has been met with negative views from the public. Pageantry is so much more than walking around in a swimsuit; it helped me get accepted to colleges all over the country, improve my interview skills, along with my self-confidence. Something as simple as a pageant prepares women for careers and lifelong success after they step off the pageant stage, not to mention, it gives them a platform for acts of service for the public. For instance, Miss World 2014, Rolene Strauss is a doctor who used her title to travel the country and teach young women about proper hygiene.

When I would tell someone about my pageantry experience, I was constantly being met with negative opinions. When I told a childhood friend about my involvement, she looked at me with a disgusted look, implying that my involvement was single-handedly diminishing the progress that women have made for equality. She then asked: “Your mom actually supports this demeaning hobby of yours?” Stereotypes do not stop there, the phrase “But you’re not blonde” is a common one, and “Oh, isn’t the answer always world peace” has been heard more times than I can count.

Movies like Miss Congeniality and Little Miss Sunshine are entertaining, but they cast a negative light on the pageant culture, depicting mothers as crown-obsessed and devilish contestants. The public’s negative opinion stems from Child Glitz Beauty pageants, which have been proven to lower girls’ self- esteem and increase levels of depression as adults. People believe only “pretty, thin white girls” can take home titles.

In truth, since 2005, there has been a rise in pageants which ensure this is not the case such as American Beauties Plus Pageants for women size 14 and up. Christine Knight, the first disabled person to win a pageant title in New Zealand is another stellar example of someone breaking through the stereotype of pageants. She was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy at the age of ten and decided to enter the Miss World Hawke's Bay Beauty Pageant to share her story of perseverance.

Her story is a common reason many young many women decide to enter pageants. As a child, I was diagnosed with apraxia, a verbal processing disorder, and I was bullied because of it. Doctors and teachers would tell my parents it would be a surprise if I ever amounted to anything, and I was determined to prove them wrong. After years of speech therapy, I overcame my limitations, founding my own service project, Just Like Me 2, to help other children who face similar situations. My involvement with pageantry is one of the reasons I was accepted to over fifteen colleges across the country. Pageantry encouraged me to seek as many volunteer and community service organizations as I could like Relay for Life, Make a Wish Foundation and A Prom To Remember. I have worked with anti-bullying blogs to prevent the increase of high school bullying and have acted as an ambassador for FARE, Food Allergy Research, and Education. These opportunities would not have been possible without the connections I made through pageantry. My involvement has helped shape who I am today, a hard-working, philanthropic and well-rounded woman.

There are countless women involved in pageants who are incredible role models, like Miss USA 2016 Deshauna Barber who served in the military, Lizzy Olsen, Miss DC USA 2015 the Majority Director of Operations for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public’s Work, or Erika Harold, Miss America 2003 a Harvard Law School graduate who ran for Illinois’s District Court.

From personal experience, the women I have met through competitions inspire me to be a better individual. They are passionate about their platforms and some have created their own organizations helping poverty ridden students in their city or have worked with children who have physical disabilities. The great thing, despite “competing” against one another, I have created great friendships and have seen these women add accomplishment after accomplishment to their resume.

Thanks to my involvement in pageants, I secured an internship for a women’s empowerment blog, leading to a full time writing position. Pageants helped me to gain self-confidence, despite how cliché that seems. You must feel confident to walk around in a swimsuit, showing off your body to complete strangers. If one can do that, speaking in public, meeting new people, and first impressions are a breeze.

Pageantry is so much more than women prancing on stage in a two-piece and promoting “World Peace”, it has nothing to do with fake tans or fake teeth. Pageants help women develop skills they can utilize in the workforce, gain self-confidence, and build well-rounded relationships with women from all over the country. Pageants are more than external beauty; the women involved are the definition of role models for young girls. Some have jobs in the STEM field, others are lawyers, while some are journalists. They have been role models and advocates for me, helping me to see my full potential and always support my aspirations; however, their best quality is their inner beauty. Pageantry has taught me beauty is more than skin deep; true beauty is the hearts that pageant women have and their desires and drive to help assist others.