Lauren Young, biology junior, will be the first to represent UTD in several years at the Miss Dallas beauty pageant, scheduled Nov. 19 to 21 at the Eisemann Center in Richardson.
Young’s pageant career began in high school after she witnessed many other girls participate in pageants similar to Miss Dallas.
“I did a pageant in high school because I thought it would be fun,” Young said. “And at UTD, I did one through a fraternity because they offered a ($600) scholarship.”
Young was recently crowned Miss Black and Gold 2011 for UTD’s Alpha Phi Alpha chapter and Miss
Dallas will be her third pageant. For the past six years a UTD student has won the regional Miss Black and Gold competition but Young as- pires to be the first comet to reach nationals, located in Hawaii. As for Miss Dallas, Young hopes to bring back a win where many previous winners have reigned from UNT. “My coach told me it’s not about getting up there and starting World War three,” Young said. “You want to show yourself and not what you think the judges want to see…I want to be Miss Dallas so I’m going to put
that forward.”
Acknowledging the myriad of misconceptions and criticisms many people have about beauty pageants, Young is quick to point out that most contestants are intelligent women and possess qualities beyond a pretty face, frame and figure.
“What makes a beauty queen amazing is that she can get (on stage) and represent what a real woman is,” Young said. “She doesn’t represent the phoniness and fake façade of what America thinks of a perfect pageant queen.”
She also points out that the make-up and gowns are simply part of the tradition of glamour in pageants and fearlessness in front of a crowd is important, something Young admits she has had to grow into.
“It does make you feel amazing to go up there and feel like you’re the belle of the ball. It takes a lot to walk in front of thousands of people… it takes confidence, and that’s an accomplishment,” she said.
Contestants in the Miss Dallas competition are required to raise $100 for a charity of their choice; But Young plans to go beyond that amount and raise $250 for the Children’s Miracle Network.
She will be collecting donations at a booth in the SU in the upcoming weeks. Local businesses may also purchase ad pages if they wish to sponsor her. Young said one of her biggest aspirations is to put herself through medical school and study internal medicine and she also hopes to continue entering pageants in the future.
“It’s intimidating,” Young admits of the Miss Dallas competition, “but I have a lot of people rooting for me.”
