Last weekend, I attended the Miss Tulsa and Miss Tulsa's Outstanding Teen pageants, two official preliminary pageants to the Miss Oklahoma pageant and Miss Oklahoma's Outstanding Teen pageant, which in turn are preliminaries to the Miss America and MAOTeen Scholarship Pageants. This was my first official appearance as Mrs. Tulsa America 2010.I love the MAO (Miss America Organization). The contestants were extremely talented. They had each obviously spent some time in the gym. The evening wear was breathtaking, and each of the contestants spoke confidently and eloquently during on-stage question.
I remember competing in this program in my younger days. It was tough. The interviews were challenging, and the talent (especially in Oklahoma) was incredible. Competition was fierce but the other women also became some of my closest friends. Every young woman worked hard for every category of competition and that hard work paid off. As a two-time local titleholder, and often-time runner-up and Miss Congeniality, I won over $4000 in scholarships in the Miss America program. I credit the Miss America Organization (and a very old version of Don Baker's Communications Plus notebook) for my interview skills today. I still have much to learn...but the MAO brought my Q & A skills to a whole new level.
Given my history, it was almost surreal watching young ladies competing in this slightly different version of the pageant I competed in 5-9 years ago. The pageant was so different (the fashions worn, the on-stage questions asked) and yet so very much the same.
I was there supporting my friend Megan Johnson. Megan competed beautifully! It was a tough competition to call because there were so many beautiful, talented and articulate young women, and because we didn't see the private interviews, but I was proud and happy for Megan when she was named first runner-up! Megan also won the talent competition. If you could have seen these young people, wow... winning the talent portion was a feat to be proud of in itself. The new Miss Tulsa is Talia Berning. What a lovely young woman. All of the contestants did a great job! One surprise of the evening was to see Jessica Begley, a former calculus student of mine, competing on stage. She was wonderful! The teens were adorable and talented as well. I'm so glad that young women and teens in Oklahoma have an opportunity to grow through this incredible program. I agree with Miss Tulsa 2009, Damaris Pierce, who said that Oklahoma has the best state program in the country. With back to back Miss Americas just three years ago, I have to agree. But I'm an Okie, now. I may be baised. ;) I had a great time and plan to continue to support the program by attending more locals this season.
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