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Campus Celebrity Alumni Edition: Ali Clair

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Hannah Chambers Student Contributor, University of Maine
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Maine chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
In the spirit of the upcoming Miss Maine USA and Miss Maine Teen USA pageants, we spoke to UMaine Alum and Miss Maine USA 2013 Ali Clair.
Name – Ali Clair 
 
Hometown – China, Maine
 
Current town – Portland, Maine 
 
Occupation – Director of External Relations 
 
Major – Journalism, Dance Minor
 
Fun fact – My parallel parking skills are out of this world. 
Instagram– @aliclair
 
 
Advice for seniors who are graduating – Keep all of your work! Graduating 
 
with a portfolio of your best work to present to potential employers, especially in 
 
Journalism/Communications, is key to landing a dream job. 
 
Favorite UMaine memory – Participating in the 2011 Maine Day flash mob!
 
Campus involvement – Dance Club, Lambda Pi Eta, WMEB radio DJ
 
Advice for current Black Bears – You’ll never be as young as you are now – so 
 
have the time of your life. 
 
Favorite spot in Orono – 1944 Dance Studio and The Bear Brew, obviously. 
 
Tell us about your year as Miss Maine:
 
My year as Miss Maine USA 2013 was a complete whirlwind. As soon as I was 
 
crowned I spent the year volunteering, doing appearances, flying all over the 
 
country for modeling jobs and of course preparing for the Miss USA pageant! The 
 
experiences I had were such once in a lifetime opportunities, I feel eternally 
 
blessed, grateful and honored to have held the title. My biggest take away from 
 
the year as Miss Maine was how much it changed my life, I wouldn’t be the 
 
woman I am today without it. 
 
Most exciting moment as a titleholder: Aside from competing at Miss USA in 
 
Las Vegas live on NBC, one of the most exciting moments I had as a title holder 
 
was being awarded a Legislative Sentiment by Senator Katz at the Maine State 
 
House in May of 2013. 
 
How are you still involved in pageants? I maintain an involvement in pageants 
 
by being a pageant coach! It’s a wonderful way to keep a connection with the 
 
organization that changed by life by coaching girls in their own personal journeys 
 
for titles and crowns. 
 
Most valuable lesson you learned from competing (or your year as a title 
 
holder):
 
My most valuable lesson is for the females of the world-
 
Ladies, learn to be independent. That’s my most valuable take away from 
 
competing in pageants and living a year in the limelight. Being independent 
 
doesn’t mean you can’t ask for help, or learn from others – to me it means you 
 
don’t rely on anyone else for your own happiness and confidence. Pure 
 
happiness can only come from within and it will radiate out to those around you
 
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Hannah Chambers

U Maine

Hannah began her involvement with Her Campus as a contributing writer for the UMaine chapter after transferring from Seton Hall University in 2013. Currently, she is the HC UMaine Campus Correspondent and a Chapter Advisor. She is also a staff writer at the University of Maine's student newspaper, The Maine Campus.

As a fourth year Journalism student with an English minor, Hannah enjoys writing everything from hard news stories to GIF-filled listicles. In addition to her involvement with Her Campus, Hannah coaches a junior varsity high school cheerleading team. In her spare time, you can find Hannah sharing hair tips on her personal blog, obsessing over Justin Bieber and re-watching episodes of Gossip Girl.