As
Kate?s year of service winds to a close,
Pageantry asked this brilliant and beautiful woman to summarize her
year as Miss America 1998.
by
Miss America 1998 Kate Shindle
About
eight months ago, I got a new job. It?s a job which I?ve wanted for
years. It?s a job which, purportedly, ?every little girl in America?
dreams of having someday. And most of all, it?s a job which, if my own
experience can serve as an example, is very very different in real life
than it is in the imaginations of those who seek it.
Don?t get me wrong. I love being
Miss America. I spent months working intensely in preparation for the
various levels of competition. And now that I hold the position, at
least for another couple of months, I have the opportunity to advance
my commitment to HIV/AIDS prevention to a national level. This organization
provides an absolutely unique forum for young women to affect positive
change in their communities. There is no other program ? at least, not
one that I?ve encountered ? which empowers 17-to-24-year olds on this
grand a scale. And the scholarship dollars which it distributes are,
in a word, tremendous. Over $32 million dollars in scholarship assistance
is provided each year by this, the largest women?s scholarship provider
in the world. It?s truly amazing to examine the impact that the Miss
America Organization has on the lives and futures of those who participate
in its program.
The Miss America Organization is
(and always has been) about enabling young women to achieve while reflecting
the values of American society. In America today, there are truly unlimited
opportunities for motivated women. The platform issue is the central
focus of the program? by applying herself to the competition, a young
woman can also ensure that she is making a real difference in the lives
and futures of those affected by whatever social issue she is addressing.
And by continuing to stay active with her platform issue beyond her
actual involvement in the Miss America competition itself, she can ensure
that the goals of the program are being met. She has empowered herself
to make positive change, regardless of what title she holds.
My other goal in this article is
to clear up some misconceptions about what it means to be Miss America.
If you are a potential contestant, listen up! I want to give you an
idea of my daily events, my schedule, and the impact that this program
has had on my life. And, of course, I have some advice for aspiring
Miss Americas. But it might not be what you expect.
Quite frankly, there really is no
?typical day? for Miss America. I travel about 20,000 miles every month,
and my schedule varies drastically depending on what I?m doing. I?ve
left hotels at 3 a.m. to make an early flight so that I could work at
5:30 in the evening; I?ve worked all day and flown to the next location
at night. Next week, I will leave Des Moines airport at 7:00, speak
at a National American Red Cross Conference in Salt Lake City, and then
fly to Orlando for the Children?s Miracle Network Telecast. There are
days when I have five appearances and days when all I do is travel to
the next city (that?s sometimes easier said than done: a few weeks ago,
we had so many delays that it took us 31 hours to fly from Philadelphia
to Reno). Traveling around the country isn?t anything like going on
a year-long vacation. It?s more like going to work on a plane! I travel
and/or work seven days a week. And, if I?m lucky, I get a day off every
month.
It?s not exactly as glamorous as
it seems on television. I don?t see my family or friends very often.
To tell you the truth, I grew used to being away from home when I left
New Jersey to attend college in Illinois. These days, I keep in touch
by phone and e-mail (I travel with my laptop computer). The first few
months my phone bills were huge!
I encounter a lot of paperwork:
Background information for appearances, speechwriting, requests for
autographs, notes from friends, last-minute schedule revisions and interview
confirmations, thank-you notes that I receive and that I write to others,
responses to articles and letters printed by newspapers across America,
and notes from local and state contestants asking for advice on platform
issues, talent pieces, or wardrobe. By now I know that when my bags
start checking in overweight at the airport, it?s time for me to go
through the stacks of papers that have undoubtedly piled up! This year
has forced me to become as organized as possible.
So
how about the good stuff? Well, there are definitely plenty of positive
aspects to this job. Like I said, most of what I do is speak. I speak
to students of all ages, AIDS organizations, community and civic groups,
government officials, you name it. Being Miss America is certainly an
adventure. It?s not at all like having an office job, as you can probably
imagine. Part of the fascination of this job is that it?s constantly
evolving. Because of the strides made by the Miss America Organization,
and because each Miss America has a unique platform issue, it?s safe
to say that no two Miss Americas have ever had the same year. We travel
to different cities, attend different events, met different people.
And every year, Miss America is able to do things that none of her predecessors
have done. In the next couple of months I?ll be tackling a hundred-mile
bike ride in New York and maybe a four-hundred-plus-mile bike ride from
Minneapolis to Chicago, all in the name of fund-raising for AIDS organizations. And
when I travel to the World AIDS Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, this
summer, I will become the first Miss America to leave the country on
a platform-related appearance. The opportunities for young women in
this program are constantly expanding and changing.
But it isn?t necessary to be Miss
America in order to benefit from either the scholarship funds or the
chance to make change in your community. Anyone who gets involved on
any level of this competition can take advantage of these aspects of
the program. Of the nearly $60,000 I won while on the road to this job,
only $40,000 came from actually becoming Miss America. The rest was
from other local, state, and national awards. There are women who have
paid for their entire educations without ever winning a state title.
There are literally millions of scholarship dollars just sitting around,
waiting to be claimed by motivated young women. The rewards which this
program provides are almost innumerable. And in order to take advantage
of those rewards, all you have to do is enter.
So you want to be Miss America? Well,
there are a few things you should know.
First, the logistics. To compete
in the Miss America Program, you must be between 17 and 24 years of
age, be involved in some kind of community service, have some kind of
talent, and have some kind of plans for higher education (or at least
college loans to pay off). There is never an entry fee of any kind.
And here?s my advice: Whether you
aspire to be Miss America, a doctor, lawyer, or anything else, your
best shot comes from being well-rounded. Get involved in lots of different
activities. Explore your interests as much as possible. Try sports.
Try Girl Scouts. Learn to sing or dance. Read as many books as you can.
Whatever you do, don?t spend all of your time doing just one thing.
If you want to compete in a few pageants, go ahead, but make sure that
you give yourself a chance to experiment with a variety of extracurricular
activities. That way, if the day comes when you change your mind about
your career goals, you?ll have experience in a lot of different fields,
and you?ll be more likely to know what you want to pursue.
And if you want to be Miss America,
then get involved in your community! This is an absolute requirement.
Volunteering doesn?t have to be a major time commitment. You can collect
canned goods at school or at church which you can distribute to those
in need. You can volunteer at a soup kitchen. You can participate in
an AIDS Walk. You can help kids learn to read. You can visit a nursing
home or a children?s hospital once a week. And you will learn very quickly
that volunteering isn?t just something to put on your resume. It?s something
which brings with it its own unique set of rewards.
The job of Miss America is a great
one. It?s grueling; it?s challenging; it?s exhausting, but it?s also
one which provides unlimited opportunities. Competing to become Miss
America will teach you things about yourself that you never knew. It?s
fun, but it requires a great deal of hard work and commitment.
Here are the honest facts: winning
the Miss America competition might give you a bit of a boost in the
self-esteem department, but having this job is not an automatic cure
for insecurities. If anything, it challenges your self-confidence on
an almost daily basis. If you?re hoping to become Miss America in order
to show the world how beautiful, smart, and talented you are, then you
need to re-examine your priorities. It?s always important to stay focused
on your goal but part of the danger of anything competitive is that
some people are only interested in the payoff. If you?re going
to get (or stay) involved in this program, you have to learn to appreciate
and learn from the experience rather than just chasing the crown. And
you can?t just do it for the glamour, because this job is like any other
job. It?s work. It?s fun in between the work, but the first priority
is taking care of your responsibilities.
If I could give you one piece of
advice, it would be to be yourself. It seems like a clich?, but
it?s definitely something you should do. Be yourself at all times, regardless
of the situation but especially with respect to the Miss America competition.
There is no place in this program for contestants who are only trying
to please the judges. It?s transparent, and no one will be able to relate
to you. It?s so much more productive to bring your best possible self
to the competition and know your opinions and be willing and eager to
explain and stand up for them. That way, regardless of what title you
hold, you will always know that you?re being true to yourself!
Like anything, you get out of this
program what you put into it. If you decide that you want to compete
a little bit, earn a few scholarship dollars, and maybe win a local
or state title, then you just might achieve that goal. If you want to
be Miss America, you?ll have to be disciplined and you?ll have to make
sacrifices. No matter what your goal is, you can achieve it. Now ask
yourself if you want it enough to commit and work for it!
