PHOTO BY DUVERNEY PHOTOGRAPHY

Everyone has their “Miss America” moment, but mine happened a little differently from most. I was the only girl in my family. When my father and mother began having children at the same time as two of my father’s brothers and their wives, I was born first, followed just two weeks later by my cousin Bobby, and two weeks after that by my cousin Jon. We were known as “the triplets,” and growing up, the three of us were inseparable. As the branches of the family expanded, our parents added four more boys. Still the only girl at the party, I could either jump in or get jumped on.

I spent my days playing baseball, fishing, catching bugs, and debating the merits of the American verses National League. “Go Sox!” Of course, while growing up, I did watch the big national pageants on TV. Then one day, I accompanied my friends to the house of their friends to go swimming (a rare treat because private swimming pools are few and far between in northern Illinois). While making my way to the changing room, I turned right when I should have turned left, and that right turn changed my life. Along the far wall of the room I had entered stood a rolling rack full of brightly colored business suits. A taller rack on the adjoining wall held glamorous evening gowns, but there directly in front of me, shining with all their brilliance, were what looked to me to be a million diamonds. I had wandered into the pageant staging room for Amanda Meadows, Miss Illinois 1998. I was awestruck by the crowns that she had won throughout her career in pageantry.

Having grown up in the middle of a cornfield in the middle of the corn capital of world, fireflies were the only glitter I’d ever expected to find in my backyard. But on that summer day’s visit to Mandy Meadows’ house, I had caught the pageant fever. I rushed home after swimming, extremely excited to tell my parents what I had seen and explain to them my newfound passion. They smiled politely and nodded and assumed that this was just another phase I was going through. Whoever heard of a bruised, softball catcher participating in beauty pageants? But the fire was lit, and a tough little tomboy knows how to work for what she wants. It took two years to prove to my parents that I was serious, and that I wanted to shake off the dirt in favor of some curls and heels. Together, we decided a modeling class was a good start. They figured a little charm and a little finishing school just might help someone recognize me as a girl. The registration card for the course asked, “What do you want to achieve from this class?” My answer remained true to that day in Mandy Meadows’ house. Using big capital letters and my best fifth-grade cursive, I wrote, “TO COMPETE IN PAGEANTS.”

Mandy inspired me, but it was her mother, Sandy Garrett, who would guide me. Through my friendship with Sandy and Mandy, I attended a major state pageant as a helper. They even let me ask an on-stage interview question of one of the Top Five finalists. I began to volunteer at various events and fund-raisers, and discovered that real pageant winners were a lot more than girls with crowns. It was “Jump Rope for Hearts,” or “Relay for Life,” or “Pennies for Pain,” or a hundred other causes where I learned what a difference I could make in the lives of others. That is a powerful lesson that has helped me have the strength and courage to remain true to who I am.

Emily Cassens is Miss Teen 2006 in the America’s Touch of Class Pageant system. Born and raised in northern Illinois, she is an 18-year-old 2006 graduate of DeKalb High School who will attend Illinois State University this fall to study Spanish in ISU’s elite honor’s program. Emily hopes to use her love of languages to bridge the gaps between cultures and work with children. Emily’s platform, “Finding the Hero Within,” promotes positive self-esteem through volunteering. She is the co-founder and organizer of her school’s “Port in the Storm” hurricane relief effort. Emily also volunteers at T.A.I.L.S Humane Society and several other causes. You can follow Emily and her activities on www.Emily Cassens.com.