Being a pageant veteran of nine years, I went into the Miss Maryland Teen USA 2012 pageant with high hopes. It was my fourth year competing in this particular pageant, and having placed first runner-up the previous year, I was hoping to win.
On Friday Oct. 28, I arrived at the North Bethesda Marriott Hotel prepared to have a private interview with the judges that lasted three minutes. While it was short, it gave the judges a chance to get to know me. I felt great after my interview because the judges connected with me.
On Saturday, pageant contestants rehearsed all day. We prepared the opening number dance and learned onstage walking patterns. This was nothing new to me, so I focused on preparing myself for competition that evening.
The first night of preliminary competition, Saturday night, consisted of an opening number dance, personal introduction, swimsuit modeling, and evening gown modeling. I rocked the dance, strutted across the stage in a swimsuit, and managed to gracefully walk in five and a half inch heels in my white chiffon evening gown.
Sunday was the final day of competition. The top 15 contestants were chosen out of the 80 girls at the pageant, and I made the first cut along with fellow senior Stephanie Chervenkov.
The top 15 then re-competed in swimsuit and evening gown modeling. However, there was a major mess up with the order of the girls’ names during the competition which undoubtedly messed up the judges’ scoring cards. The process became so jumbled that the hosts announced a 10 minute intermission just to figure out what was going on, which has never happened before.
I still managed to make the top five along with Chervenkov. The top five competed in onstage questions, giving the judges a final idea of how the girls would be able to speak to strangers while she making appearances and representing her title.
One girl froze onstage for 10 seconds and asked the host to repeat the question. She froze for another 10 seconds before rambling out her response similarly to the infamous Miss South Carolina Teen USA 2007 response to the map question on live T.V.
After the questions were answered, all contestants were brought back onstage for the announcement of the winner.
To my surprise and disappointment, I was announced fourth runner up. When my name was called, the entire crowd audibly gasped. Because of my pageant experience, I gracefully accepted my flowers and walked back to my place. I then watched Chervenkov win the title with just a year’s experience of pageants.
Chervenkov and I prepared for the pageant together and formed a friendship that otherwise we would not have had. As Chervenkov’s friend I wish her the best of luck. I have no animosity towards her because she had nothing to do with the outcome of the pageant and the frustration that I feel.
I can no longer compete for the title of Miss Maryland Teen USA because the cut off is age 18. It breaks my heart to see a dream that I have worked at for years end. This experience is hurtful and frustrating because I did as perfectly as I could and still didn’t win.
I truly believe that all things happen for a reason. What that reason is has yet to be made clear to me, but I hope that Chervenkov’s reign as Miss Maryland Teen USA 2012 will bring her the incredible experiences that I wish I could have.
Stephanie Meadowcroft is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.