Erin O'Brien won the Miss Collegitate South pageant last Sunday.
She moves on to compete in the Miss Indiana pageant this summer
in hopes of making it to MIss America.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ERIN O'BRIEN
The DePauw: How did you get invited to the Miss Indiana Pageant?
Erin O'Brien: Last Sunday, I competed in the Miss Collegiate South Pageant. It was open to any woman who attends a southern Indiana college. In addition to winning a scholarship, I also get to compete at Miss Indiana this summer. It is the third week of June in Zionsville, Ind. The winner of Miss Indiana, of course, then gets to go to Miss America.
TDP: How long have you been competing in pageants?
Erin: I did a few pageants in high school, but I didn’t get really serious about it until college. I realized it really helped me grow as a person. It’s more than about walking around in high heals, you really grow and mature a lot as a person, regardless of whether you win every pageant, you walk away gaining something.
TDP: What have you gained from competing?
Erin: I’ve definitely gained more confidence in myself. It’s definitely not easy to get up on stage to model a swimsuit or sing a song in front of a bunch of people. I’ve gained interview skills and the ability to express myself. I’ve just become more well rounded as a person.
TDP: How do you prepare for a pageant?
Erin: There are different phases to the competition. There is an interview portion, so I make sure to stay up dated on current events. There’s, of course, the swimsuit portion, so I spend a lot of time taking care of myself. I make it more of a lifestyle, I workout every day, make sure that I eat healthy and make sure I feel confident on stage modeling a swimsuit. There’s a talent portion, so I try to practice my song at least once a week. There’s the evening gown portion, which as embarrassing as it is to admit it, I do practice walking very gracefully in heals. Then there’s the on-stage question which always gets a lot of negative press coverage. You always hear about the girls screwing up their answers, but you’ll be asked a question on stage and you have thirty seconds to answer it. I just try to spend a little bit of time each day focusing on some part of the competition and in some way bettering myself. There’s a lot more that goes into it, than what a lot of people realize.
TDP: What’s your favorite and least favorite part of each competition?
Erin: My favorite part is the interview. Even though the audience doesn’t get to see the interview, I love talking about my accomplishments and sharing with the judges why I’m so interested in pageants. I don’t really have a least favorite. If there was a part of the competition I didn’t like, I wouldn’t compete. There’s something I like about it all. When I first started, I hated the swimsuit portion. But, I like it now, because doing that has taught me a lot about health and fitness and I never thought I would say that.
Erin O'Brien is the multimedia editor at The DePauw