http://www.khon2.com/content/news/morning/story/Miss-Hawaii-Teen-USA-Heads-to-Bahamas/4DbtHblTwU-XPpQJdqQMnw.cspx
Alamogordo Daily News| |
http://www.nova.edu/cwis/pubaffairs/sharkbytes/2009/july7/missflorida.html
by MARYSA FALK - Ravalli RepublicCodi Miller decided she wasn’t going to compete at the National High School Finals Rodeo long before she started the spring season.
Codi Miller decided she wasn’t going to compete at the National High School Finals Rodeo long before she started the spring season.
Ironically, after Miller made that choice, the Bowman County sophomore began building a sizeable lead in the North Dakota High School Rodeo Association’s pole bending standings with the help of a consistent gray mare named Fancy.
Yet, when the option of going to nationals in Farmington, N.M., or competing in the Miss Teen USA pageant arose — Miller was named Miss Teen North Dakota around Thanksgiving last year — the Amidon 16-year-old chose to fulfill her obligations to the pageant.
While Miller hopes she can reach the NHSFR sometime in the future, she said thinking about the success she’s had in both the rodeo and pageant world in the past year is a bit overwhelming.
“Sometimes I can’t describe the feeling I get when I think about how good I’m doing in rodeo and getting to go to the Bahamas too,” Miller said.
Miller will vie for the coveted Miss Teen USA crown at the July 31 pageant at Nassau, Bahamas, instead of making a trip to the NHSFR that seemed quite likely based on her success this season.
She’ll end her rodeo season this weekend at the North Dakota State Finals Rodeo in Bowman because the final days of the NHSFR coincide with her obligations to the pageant.
With 77 season points and a 15-point lead over runner-up Mamie Kieson, Miller has a good chance of holding onto her lead in the pole bending standings and winning a state title, which she said became her goal after deciding not to attend the NHSFR.
She has also been encouraging to other competitors trying to fight their way into the top four of the standings, which would earn them an automatic trip to the NHSFR.
“Some of them came up to me and kiddingly told me they don’t like me cause I’m beating them,” Miller said. “I tell them not to give up.”
If those wanting to make a run at the NHSFR can take any other advice from Miller, it’s that being consistent works. She has proven this season that consistency over the course of a season can translate into a title run.
Miller has just one win — a 20.849-second run at Killdeer — but has placed and accumulated points at nearly every rodeo.
“I just ride like I ride at practice and Fancy seems to know what to do and she does it,” Miller said. “… Since I’ve been leading, I’ve just been riding her like I do at practice and I’ve been consistent. That’s helped at keeping me up at the top.”
Consistency is what Miller knows she’ll always get with Fancy, a horse whose age is unknown but the Miller family believes to be at least 26 years old based on discussions with the horse’s previous owners.
“Everybody always sees this little tiny horse at the rodeo jumping around,” she said. “I always ask people how old they think she is and they say, four. … She’s kind of a miracle horse.”
This weekend Miller is also trying to duplicate the past success cowgirls have had riding Fancy through the poles.
Miller’s 14-year-old sister, Kit, rode Fancy to a state championship in the North Dakota Junior High Finals Rodeo in Hebron earlier this month. Last season, Bowman County graduate Megan Torpen and Fancy finished as the state’s runner-ups.
“I’m just impressed how she can still do what she does, being as old as she is,” Kit Miller said. “That’s really impressive. There’s not many horses like her.”
Next season could prove interesting for the Millers, however. With Kit entering the high school ranks, the Millers plan to keep Fancy, who is owned by Bowman’s Laverne Kulseth.
“We may have to play Rock Paper Scissors to see how rides Fancy next year because we’ll both be in high school,” Codi Miller said.
Michelle Modey, right, and Sylvie Tarpinian, Miss Oregon USA, attended Oregon's 150th Birthday celebration at the state capitol. (Submitted photo)
By Sharon Haddock Every morning at 4:30 a.m., Ashley Moser's alarm rang insistently, waking her so she could get to her 6 a.m. LDS seminary class across the island.
Add to that her class load at Punahou School, volunteering at a local adult day care, prepping for college and taking care of her duties as Miss Hawaii Teen USA, and it was a busy senior year.
But Moser's not complaining. It's what she's always wanted to do — combine performing onstage with sharing the gospel.
"It is a sacrifice (to get to seminary), but it's the best one I've ever made," said Moser. "Seminary helps me feel the spirit all through the day."
The spirit is also helping her realize her dreams. Moser is certain that the Lord is behind her successes.
"I always wanted to be a princess," said Moser, who was in her first pageant as a baby and grew up watching pageants. "I'm very thankful for pageants. My mom did pageants. That's how she got a scholarship to BYU-Hawaii. She was not a member at the time, so by going there, she found the gospel and my dad. As a result, our whole family is in the church."
She's grown up being one of the few Mormons in her school classes. Moser said she finds lots of opportunities to let others know she's LDS as she attends weekend functions with Miss Hawaii USA, whether it's an auto show or a ribbon cutting.
"It's a great gospel conversation tool," she said. "It's really awesome."
Onstage and in person, she's comfortable and likes meeting all kinds of new people, so the judge's interviews are fun for her. She doesn't stress over media attention or spotlights.
"I get energy from being on stage," she said. "I enjoy it."
She felt like she and her mother and father (Kendall and Sandra Sagisi Moser) won the crown together, after she placed second in several pageant competitions and had thought she'd always be a first runner-up.
"They pushed me, but in a good way," she said.
She also thanks her Heavenly Father.
"I know I wouldn't have won without (the Lord's help)," Moser said. "I told the Lord if I were fortunate enough to win, I would try to set an example for others. I'm so, so grateful."
Stacy Juris, of Lincoln-Way East has watched every Miss America pageant on TV since she was 10 years old and finally decided that she wanted to participate in pageants at 15. Now, at 18 and recently titled Miss Teen Illinois, she is grateful for all the life skills she has gained from the pageants. "I always watched the pageants so I decided to do some research on the computer," Juris explained. "I found the right Web site, filled out the forms and a few weeks later they said I made it as a contestant." Juris, who competed against 121 contestants, said she was hooked after the first pageant. "After doing it the first year I made a lot of friends that I still talk to," she said. "I also learned a lot of life skills that you learn are helpful everyday." Pageant contestants in the Miss Teen Illinois contest (a part of the Miss Universe Contest) are judged on their interview with judges, the swimsuit portion and the evening gown portion. Juris said she was taught communication skills by learning interview tips while preparing for the contest. She also said she gained lots of confidence as she walked on a stage of hundreds. "I always liked being on stage but I always get a little nervous before going on stage," she explained. "But before I get on stage I get nervous but it all goes away once I walk on stage because it's fun." She said cheerleading and dance has helped her confidence and her love for being on stage. The Lincoln-Way East student also attributes her confidence to her high school. "Lincoln-Way East is a great school," she said. "It's a school where students have the most opportunities to do anything. I'm thankful for that since I am in cheerleading at school." Last year, Juris took runner up as Miss Teen Illinois, but she said she was not expecting to become Miss Teen Illinois this year at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago. "I was shocked to make the top five," she laughed. "Once they named the runner up it took me a second to realize I was the winner. I was beside myself." As Miss Teen Illinois, Juris is expected to appear at events and work with a variety of charities. She said she is looking forward to working with Best Buddies, an organization for underprivileged children. "A lot of girls in the Miss USA contest have talked about working with Best Buddies so I think I'll really like that," she said. Since Juris is 18, she would have to compete in the Miss Illinois contest next year if she decided to continue competing, but she said she plans to take some time off from the pageant business after this year. "I may come back after a year or two, but I want to wait and focus on school next year," she explained. As runner up last year she won a $22,000 scholarship to Lincoln College in Normal, Ill. "I may go there for two years and transfer," said Juris, who plans to major in Broadcasting. As this year's Miss Illinois Teen USA, she was awarded a $28,500 scholarship to Lincoln College again, a $14,000 scholarship to Vandercook College of Music, a personal appearance contract, a cash prize, $1,000 cash wardrobe for the national Teen USA competition, jewelry, and evening gown, cocktail dress and appearance suit for winning Illinois' top teen honors. The next step of the pageant process is representing Illinois in the Miss Teen USA in August. http://www.frankfortstation.com/Articles-c-2008-12-15-188989.112113_A_dream_come_true.html | |||||||||||||||
Paromita Mitra, 17, a Bangladeshi immigrant in the United States, won the crown for the Miss Mississippi Teen USA 2009 competition on Saturday, October 25, 2008. The competition was held at the Saenger Theatre in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Mr. Donald J. Trump, Chairman and President of The Trump Organization, on behalf of The Miss Universe Organization and NBC Universe sponsored this program. Winning this competition, Paromita will go for the Miss Teen USA Pageant competition in 2009, and get a chance to embark on a year of traveling around the world, working with incredible non-profit organizations, attending red carpet events and experiencing unforgettable moments. As a winner, Paromita receives some scholarship money, travel allowances, New York Film Academy Awards, several custom designed cosmetics and jewelries, and speech and communication training for Miss Teen USA, among many. Paromita’s onstage question was: what magazine cover she would like to appear on and what her headline would be. “Time Magazine,” she said. “The headline would be: A new generation for women, because I believe that I could be a diverse addition to the Teen USA program.” 
Paromita, the daughter of Dr. Amal and Ratna Mitra, is a senior at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Among with her many activities, she is the Senior Class President, a cheerleader, a pianist, and a member of her school debate club and the robotics team. She became the Homecoming Queen 2008-2009 at her school. She loves astronomy, physics, and math. In the future she wants to be an aeronautical engineer and work for NASA.
A Desert Vista High School graduate and a senior have stepped from the classroom into the spotlight as the most recent Miss Arizona USA pageant winners.
Alicia Blanco, 21, a 2005 Desert Vista graduate, was crowned Miss Arizona USA 2009, and Whitney Nelson, 18, a Desert Vista senior, earned the Miss Arizona Teen USA 2009 title late last month.
Blanco and Nelson will go on to compete at the national competitions.
And these two aren't the first pageant winners to come out of the Ahwatukee high school. Last year Ashley Stainton, who is now a senior at Desert Vista, was named Miss Arizona Teen USA 2008.
Blanco and Nelson said Desert Vista's academic rigor, nurturing teachers and diverse extracurricular activities prepared them for the pageant.
"They gave me my diversity and support," Blanco, a junior at Arizona State University, said. "The teachers are so supportive."
At Desert Vista she said she participated in hip-hop dance, step team, salsa dance club, National Honor Society and a club that promotes higher education for Latinos.
In the Miss Arizona pageants, contestants are judged on their poise, beauty, confidence, character and personality in interviews and while wearing evening wear and bathing suits.
An honors student, Nelson started dancing at about age 2 and is on Desert Vista's company dance team. Captain of the varsity cheer squad, she also mentors students in a Phoenix school as part of the Community Counts Club.
Nelson said it was her first time competing in a pageant and she was shocked she won.
"I was like, no matter what happens I'm still going to have fun," she said.
Her Desert Vista English teacher last year, Leland Rodgers, was not surprised she won.
"She's just really focused and very dedicated," Rodgers said. "She's not necessarily a fanatic about it. She has a social life, she is very family-oriented."
Desert Vista sociology and psychology teacher Don Dumais said Blanco was "very engaging" and a student who "asked a lot of questions."
"You could tell she had a lot of compassion and concern for other people," Dumais said.
A broadcast journalism major, Blanco said a friend she met at ASU, Miss Arizona USA 2007 Courtney Barnas, encouraged her to enter the pageant last year.
"I told her, 'I'll give it a shot just for fun,'" Blanco said.
Blanco was first runner-up in Miss Arizona USA last year and said the experience "changed my life."
The pageants have motivated her to eat healthier and exercise more, she said. As Miss Arizona, she will help Go Red For Women fight heart disease and assist Chances for Children-Arizona in combating childhood obesity.
Nelson said her friend, Blanco's sister Lisa, 19, encouraged her to enter the pageant.
"I got a personal trainer," Nelson said. "I started working on communication skills. You need to push yourself to be the best you can."
Her father, Todd Nelson, said it was her idea to enter the pageant and he supports activities that develop confidence.
"It will be exciting and hopefully a magical year for Whitney," he said.
Lisa Blanco said her sister "gives me such inspiration."
"It's a great opportunity for all young women," Lisa Blanco said. "It does build a lot of character."
