I was recently asked by a BV girl: "when is it the right time to leave behind a pageant system and try others". Well, my opinion on this has not changed and I want to remind you of my thoughts on this issue:
Try every pageant. Never stick to just one.
If you stay in one spot your whole life, you'll never see the world. You'll never have new experiences. Can you imagine never trying something new? Can you imagine eating the same sandwich every single day? I hope not. If so, stop reading.
Yes, you may love one system - their staff, their mission etc, but it will not be learning anything new about yourself or what you are capable of! Sad!
Reminder of my personal story: I spent four years in the same pageant system trying every single year and getting better, but never winning. It was not until I left that pageant system that I had my first pageant WIN and thus my first opportunity to go out into the community and meet people, to attend and compete in a national pageant, etc etc etc!
Try every pageant. Never stick to just one. You will learn something new about yourself with every life experience...and with every pageant experience. Different judges look for different things. Different pageants look for different things. Maybe you are just not what that pageant is looking for - do you want to waste years of your life never winning or doing better just because you love being at that same pageant every year? I think not.
Try new pageants - there are tons out there that have commonalities, so never fear that you're going in as a complete "newbie". Here are some ideas of pageants that have many phases of competition in common (in alphabetical order), which means you can most likely use the same gown, intro, interview style etc:
International Junior Miss
Miss American Coed
National American Miss
USA Ambassador
Two Popular Programs (on TV)
Miss America (has a teen division too: Miss America's Outstanding Teen)
Miss USA (has a teen division too: Miss Teen USA)
I also direct my own pageant called Miss Miracles Happen - we raise funds for Johns Hopkins Children's Center/Children's Miracle Network Hospitals (CMNH) and thus, we make "miracles happen"! Your registration fee is a donation to CMNH....our event is May 11, 2013. Check out the website for more info, I would love to see you register! www.MissMiraclesHappen.com
Hope this helped! <3
