By Areya Starke
Kennedy Brown is a sophomore, crowns and sashes is her language, and she does pageants and it’s not like the stereotypical Toddler and Tiaras television perceives it as.
“I started doing pageantry because I got a letter in the mail inviting me to do National American three years ago.”
Crowns and sashes are sophomore Kennedy Brown’s language, as she competes in pageantry and it’s nothing like the stereotypes.
The typical season for state pageants is during the summertime. Then, they have nationals in November in California, Florida or New York.
“I’ve been competing for about three years now,” said Brown. “I’ve done three pageants, two in Nebraska and one in Iowa.”
Last year, Brown got second place for top model, and has also received the Heart of Service award for helping in the community. She’s also been a top ten finalist, and can compete in nationals as an all American.
“I’m usually shy, so it was hard to get at first to get out there and talk to different girls,” said Brown.“There’s this one part of the competition interview, that’s pretty difficult. The judges save you some of the hardest questions like…. “If you’re a magnet what would you attract?” I did not know what to say.”you just brag about yourself basically.”
Competitions can be nerve-wrecking, so Brown always rehearses in her head, tries practicing to make sure she’s ready.
“Only in bigger competitions do they ask questions about politics and bettering the world mostly,” said Brown, regarding the sterotype of contestants answering questions falsey. “For Nationals you really need to be
prepared for anything the judges throw at you.” A big part of pageantry is confidence, keeping the converstaion going.
“Make sure you know what you’re going to say and if you mess up just keep on going. They aren’t gonna judge you if you mess up, judges watch you on how you fix it.” said Brown. One sterotype Brown confirms to be true is how important posture is.
“I like the stage and how they take pictures of you in your outfits That’s probably my favorite part competitions. It’s so much fun.” said Brown.
Northwest may not have a lot of students who are aware of pageantry, but Brown said that she would be more than happy to help with anyone interested in competing. Some people may take a different approach to what they think of pageantry, knowing from a first hand experience, perspective might have changed. Pageantry has taught Brown lessons
she never expected to learn.
*Photo Courtesy of Kennedy Brown
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