Teens and Tiaras

We have all seen, or at least heard about, the TV hit "Toddlers and Tiaras," but are pageants really like that? Yes and no. I recently competed in a Miss Alabama preliminary pageant at UNA and was immersed in the "pageant world." Now don't get me wrong, I made some lovely friendships and I had a lot of fun during this experience. I learned so much about myself. Pageants are not all about fake tans and makeup, these girls have to have courage and talent. The courage it takes to walk across the stage in a swimsuit in front of over 1,000 people is unimaginable, but it is an invigorating feeling. I performed to the best of my ability in every portion of the pageant and left everything I had out on the stage. The roar of the crowd after each of my performances was something I wish I could experience often. Having people cheer my name gives me such a rush. All of the girls that compete in pageants have to have the courage to face their fears. Pageants are about growing as a person, promoting a platform that is close to your heart, and furthering your education by earning scholarship money. Plus, who doesn't want to get treated like a princess for a day and wear a pretty dress?! Pageant girls are smart, and they work hard to stay fit mentally and physically. Now for the "toddlers and tiaras" side of it, there is a lot of makeup, spray glue for the swimsuit to stay in place, spray tans, manicures, hairspray, taping and sucking in. In most pageants, girls can be very "catty" and play mind games to psyche each other out. With university pageants, the girls are usually friends, but not all pageant girls play nice. There are girls that devote their lives to winning pageants and making it to the top, and they will do whatever it takes to get there. Friends can be made at pageants and fun can be had, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to get that crown.