Andrea Rustad (CAS ’19) is the current title holder and representative of Massachusetts in the Miss Collegiate America Pageant. If you haven’t heard of this before, this pageant is similar to that of Miss America, as it also provides scholarships and opportunities for their contestants. This is specific for collegiate women and focuses on community involvement and service. The titleholders are responsible for appearing in service events at least twice a month. For example, these events can be anything from the Boston Marathon to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The titleholders also spread the messages of their national anti-bullying platform – B.R.A.V.E. (Building Respect And Values for Everyone) to young students, teaching them to treat each other with kindness and to celebrate each other’s differences. Besides the collegiate division, there is also a high school and a middle school division.
Q. How did you get involved, and what inspired you to do it?
A. One of my friends from home has been doing pageants for a long time, and she invited me to watch her compete. It was really cool to watch, and it seemed like a wonderful opportunity. After I found out more about it, my friend convinced me to compete in a pageant! I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I had a great experience and made many friends while trying out. Although I did not win at that time, I came out with greater confidence and learned more about myself and my capabilities.
I have always been a performer – having done ballet and theater my whole life – so I love being on stage, especially when wearing a beautiful dress! I also love sharing ideas in discussions, so I instantly connected with pageantry and really enjoyed it. Pageants are definitely about a lot more than just walking in heels and a fancy dress onstage, although that is what most people first think of. You have to be articulate, confident, poised, intelligent, and able to speak respectfully and thoughtfully about current issues and your own experiences and opinions.
Q. How was your experience running for Miss Massachusetts, and getting selected?
A. I won Miss Massachusetts Collegiate America last October, and it was a really great experience! One of my closest friends in pageants had been the titleholder for the previous year, so she crowned me, which was so wonderful! I was so honored and shocked to be crowned that I started crying tears of joy. I made close friends during the pageant weekend. We started off the weekend with a meet and greet dinner, where all the contestants from the different divisions got to meet each other. The two girls I happened to be sitting with ended up becoming my sister queens! My junior high sister queen is named Skylar and my high school sister queen is named Emily and they are both very accomplished and kind. We do appearances together and I love them so much! All three divisions have their national competition at the same time, and I can’t wait to spend a wonderful week at nationals with my sister queens and my fellow collegiate titleholders from around the country!
The categories of competition for the Massachusetts pageant and the national pageant are the interview, evening gown, and fun fashion. My mom and I actually made my fun fashion outfit and, as the name implies, it was super fun to wear. I thought it showed off my creative personality well, which was the goal!
Q. How do you balance your academics/extracurriculars with being in pageants?
A. It is definitely challenging to balance academics and extracurriculars. I am very involved in school groups in addition to my title, so I live by my planner and always try to use my time efficiently and make schedules for when I have appearances, schoolwork, shows, and other things. It’s important to stay on top of or ahead of schoolwork as much as possible so that I can minimize stress and be productive! I love to explore Boston, so when I attend events as Miss Massachusetts Collegiate, it is like a nice study break because I get to be out in the community making a positive impact and don’t have to think about schoolwork!
Q. What lies ahead?
A. I am preparing for the national Miss Collegiate America pageant competition, which is held this summer, in the last week of June. It’s going to take place in Little Rock, Arkansas. I will be competing with my fellow collegiate titleholders from around the country, and even one from Canada. I am very excited to meet the other contestants, as we have been getting to know each other through social media and they all seem so nice. They have a very exciting week planned for us, including a pajama party, a water park trip, a fashion show, and city excursions in addition to the competition! I will have the opportunity to win incredible scholarships for school, as well as other amazing prizes, and I have never been to Little Rock before, so I can’t wait to explore a new city!
We wish the best of luck to Andrea in the national pageant, and know that she will continue to do great things!