Episode Two why I love National American Miss. Now a fun fact about the number two is that it's the only even prime number. But I'm not here to bore you with math. We're here for pageantry. So let's jump right in.
Hi ladies. Welcome back to The Girl and the Gown. I'm your host Lauren Rodgers. And in today's episode, I'm going to be talking about why I love National American Miss.
Today I'm going to talk about how I got started with National American Miss, and why I do Nam. And next I'm going to give you guys a brief explanation of the state required competitions as well as the optional competitions. And wrapping it all up. I'm going to talk about what you should expect in future episodes.
Picture this, you're five years old, going to your friend's birthday party. At the party, he mentioned that his sister is the current Miss Virginia queen. Now at the time, you are obsessed with Disney princesses. So being in the presence of royalty, the only correct response was to spill your Sprite all over the table and on everybody's clothes and the pizza.
And you tell your mom that you want to become a princess too. So we look into pageantry a little bit more specifically National American Miss, and we decide that we're going to compete for the very first time. Now I was very fortunate to be in the Queen's court my very first year round. And I was so happy and I loved competing in them that I wanted to go back next year. So I kept coming back year after year until I won the title of Miss Virginia Junior preteen.
Now you might be asking yourself, Lauren, why are you even competing in National American misto? Why haven't you branched out to other pageant systems? Well, as many of you may know that I am a two time Virginia State Queen and I have branched out to other pageant systems. And I've always felt that I connected most with NAM, because of all the life skills that they've taught me from evening gown to intro to even interview. Those three competitions have taught me so many things that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. And I also love how NAM encourages girls to be active in their community with volunteerism. Ever since I was crowned the NAM Virginia Junior Pre-teen in 2015. I've had so many opportunities to volunteer in my community. And I'm still volunteering with my same platform today with raising over $5,000 for pediatric cancer research.
Okay, ladies, we're gonna start out with the state required competitions, kicking it off with evening gown, which will count for 30% of your final score. This is your time in the spotlight, your time to shine and show the judges how poised and how graceful you are onstage with your escort. Now your escort can be anybody in your family, it could be your dad, your uncle, your mom, even your little brother, just somebody to walk you on stage and help you feel like the princess that you are. I actually have a story of how I got one of my most recent dresses. And we actually took a road trip to go get this dress at the Ashley Renee store in Indiana. I had a coaching session for two hours beforehand. And then we went to the boutique afterwards. And we tried on a dozen dresses. But there was one that really stood out to me and it was this periwinkle dress and I felt like a princess in it. Even though I hadn't been crowned yet. I felt like a friend says when I was wearing it, it fits so perfectly even off the rack and I could not wait to go to my next state pageant with it. I felt so confident in my dress and I want you guys to feel confident in your dresses as well. So have fun shopping. One more final thought. For each division. There's actually a different walking routine which I will post on my Instagram at the girl in the gown. The next competition is the personal introduction competition, you will have 30 seconds to tell the judges a little bit about yourself while you're on stage. From this competition, you're going to take away the wonderful skill of public speaking. One of my favorite parts of this competition is how much I've taken away from competing. I've learned how to present in front of people so well and it's transferred into my school life, especially in my projects. Fun fact the note that all my science fair judges had on my presentation last year is that my public speaking skills were impeccable and I have to owe it all to Nam. This will also account for 30% of your final score. Finally, interview. This is my favorite area of competition. You get one on one time with the judges each for 60 seconds. The judges will ask you questions about your hobbies, sports you play and anything that's on your resume. You will learn valuable interviewing skills that you can take with you for the rest of your life. I've gotten so many compliments over the years when I'm speaking to adults and name has played such a big part of my life for teaching me all the skills that I've learned. One more final thought, don't swap this competition, the judges just want to learn a little bit more about you. There is no trick questions, and there's no wrong answers. This will also count for 30% of your final score. Well, 30 plus 30 plus 30 is only 90. What's the other 10% this is your community service project. All you have to do is bring in a children's book or some school supplies, and this will count for a full 10% of your score.
Next up is the optional competitions. Note, these are optional. You do not have to compete in these, but it is a lot of fun to compete in them anyway. I'm going to give you a brief explanation of each one of them and you can decide which ones you'd like to compete in. Kicking off with my favorite optional actress. You get to choose a commercial from a list that Nam will provide for you on stage. This is your time to bring out your inner actress. There are no props allowed, but you are allowed to use different voices and interpretations. Next up is talent. This is the perfect time for you to give the judges a glimpse of what you'd like to do outside of pageantry. From singing, to dancing, and even martial arts, you can showcase just about any hobby you can think of. From casual to preppy, you get to choose an outfit straight from your closet to model onstage with style and sass during the casual wear competition. Make up your own routine to fill the 30 seconds you have on stage to model your outfit. The fourth optional competition you can compete in his top model. After picking outfit of your choice. You can have a photoshoot with an am photographer. Not only do you get to have a photoshoot with this outfit of your choice, but you also get a DVD and digital downloads of all the photos. How cool is that? The runway and competition is offered at select state pageants. And this is your time to shine on stage. With some high fashion modeling just like New York Fashion Week spokesmodel you can choose from 10 different topics to write, memorize and present a speech about you get a minute and 30 seconds to deliver your speech about one of your topics on stage. photogenic you could submit up to four photos of yourself for this competition. For the junior divisions, judges are looking for a very natural look and senior division judges are okay with makeup and a more glamorous look. If you submit for photos, you will be awarded the portfolio award at the finale.
Now of what to expect in upcoming episodes, we will be diving deeper into each of the required competitions. With my preparation, practice and performance. I will be sharing my own personal experiences and stories as well as tips, tricks and strategies to help you do better at your next state pageant. I will also be devoting episodes to each of the optional competitions as well. in later episodes, I'll help you put a plan together for your next state pageant. Ladies, I will help you prep this year. Even with the best preparation, it may not be your year, because some years you will capture the judges hearts and other years you won't. But the years you won't, I want that to fuel you. I want that to give you power, and more motivation and drive to do better. I want you to grow every year that you're competing whether you win or you don't become more confident in pageantry and what you do outside of pageantry as well. And that's a wrap. I hope you all enjoyed this episode. And be sure to like and subscribe to this podcast so you get notified every time we launch an episode every other Friday. See you next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai