No, I didn’t win. I went home with the same amount of sashes and tiaras as I showed up with– none. I didn’t expect to win the first pageant I was ever in, but still no one likes to lose. On the brighter side, Miss THS was a surprisingly educational experience, and not the self esteem destroyer I thought it would be.

I wasn’t swimming with confidence when I signed up for Miss THS, but I like to push myself outside my comfort zone. I knew going into the pageant that I would be surrounded by my beautiful classmates who had been in a pageant before. And they didn’t even have bright purple hair. I knew that my unconventional hair color didn’t fit into the normal pageant mold, but I wasn’t going to change it because I wouldn’t want to be anything or anyone but myself.

The interview with the judges went spectacularly. The only contestant with more interview points than me was Miss THS herself.  Making the judges laugh was possibly my favorite part of the whole process.

There was no other part of the pageant that when as smooth as the interview. We will not speak of my dancing in the opening number, lets just say I tried. I felt semi-talented during the talent portion, and even though I spent hours the night before taking in my dress that was literally 5 sizes too big, it wasn’t the best out there.

In between the activities being backstage, the other contestants were really nice because everyone was genuinely kind and thoughtful.

The pageant was a positive experience for myself. I didn’t actually win anything physical that I could show other people, but I did learn things about myself, like that I’m better under pressure than I thought or that when I’m being absolutely myself, I couldn’t shine brighter.