Samantha Shay, junior criminal justice and psycology major, is without a doubt the perfect choice for our first campus celebrity of the semester. Shay is charismatic, determined, and truly stands out from the crowd. What makes her so unique is that she is fearless on the pageant stage!
Photo courtesy of Samantha Shay and taken by Rob Carroll
What are your hobbies?
- When did you start getting into them? My favorite hobby is dancing! I started taking dance lessons when I was three years old and haven’t stopped since. I take lessons in tap, ballet, jazz, acrobatics, pointe, hip hop, lyrical, and contemporary. My favorite overall, though, is definitely tap! Another hobby of mine is shopping. If I enter a store, you bet I’ll be coming out with at least one thing no matter what.
What are you apart of? on and off campus.
- I was on the Adelphi University Dance Team my freshman and sophomore year! Unfortunately, I am way too busy with pageant things to be on the team again this year, but those girls have my heart. Last year I was also a member of a professional dance team, Crush Dance Team for the Harrisburg Stampede football team. I am an admissions ambassador at school as well! This year I am starting Adelphi’s very own chapter of the LET’S Club which stands for Let’s Erase the Stigma. My pageant platform is mental health awareness and this club is all about that! Off campus I mainly just go to charity events, galas, appearances, and serve at Revel Restaurant and Bar in Garden City!
How do pageants fit into your everyday routine? You must do a lot of traveling and running around!
- It all comes down to time management (and really utilizing my calendar app)! Winning the national title of America’s National Miss is definitely a lot harder than I imagined to fit everything in… But, typically, I go to school and work as scheduled, and almost every day I’m off, I go to events! It is absolutely a ton of traveling and errands, but it’s so worth it. I’ve gone to over 30 events so far, learned about some amazing organizations and charities, and met beautiful people.
What is your favorite pageant memory?
- My favorite memory is by far when I won this national title. My whole family is extremely supportive of everything I do, but my mom and grandmother have always been my #1 fans when it comes to pageants! When my name got called as America’s National Miss, my mom jumped about 6 feet out of her seat and yelled, “Thank you Mary and sweet baby Jesus!” I found her in the audience and cried like a baby. She then immediately left to call my grandma, who was also sobbing! It was such an emotional, unforgettable memory.
Shay being crowned America’s National Miss! Photos courtesy of Samantha Shay and taken by Brad Helton
Who are your biggest inspirations? why? how do they inspire you?
- Each and every member of my family inspires me by always persevering no matter what the circumstance. We are a family of many ups and downs, but we pride ourselves on our ability to get over the downs. My family has been my rock throughout all of my struggles and all of my accomplishments. Another inspiration of mine is Marilyn Monroe, but not the Marilyn Monroe you see in movies and that everyone objectifies. I have a book filled of notes, drawings, poems, etc. that she wrote and she had the most beautiful soul. She inspires me because she struggled all throughout her life, fighting against an image that she became, and yet she put a gorgeous smile on each and every day for the public because she knew how much it meant to them.
What is one thing you have learned from doing pageants? what advice would you give to girls who want to try them out?
- The biggest lesson I’ve learned from pageants is that you aren’t always going to win; you won’t always get what you want or get your way. But pageants have taught me how to gracefully accept that fact and push myself to try harder the next time. I guess it paid off! For anyone who wants to get into pageants, I say 100% GO FOR IT! Some people think I’ve been doing this since I was a baby or that you have to be 5’10” and size 00 to be a pageant girl, but they’re wrong. Pageants are first and foremost about your personality. I’ve never had a coach and never will because I know that pageants aren’t something to be learned; you just need to be your own beautiful self. If you can get the confidence to let your unique self show, go for it. And I will gladly help you get into them!
Do you plan to continue doing pageants? Are there any goals in that industry you are trying to achieve?
- Every pageant girl’s dream is to win a national title. That has always been my dream. This year, being Miss New York was amazing, but I achieved my dream of winning out of beautiful, amazing women representing each state of America. From here, I plan to utilize the skills and connections I’ve gained in pageantry to start my official modeling and acting career, and possibly even coach other pageant girls! From winning this, I landed a 3-year contract with MMG Model Management Group, so I’m pretty satisfied with where I am now!
“I plan to utilize the skills and connections I’ve gained in pageantry to start my official modeling and acting career, and possibly even coach other pageant girls!”
Photo courtesy of Samantha Shay and taken by Brad Helton
How do you prepare for a pageant? Do you get nervous?
- Truthfully, I don’t do much to prepare for a pageant. Of course there’s buying the dress, the wardrobe, getting pampered at the spa, and all of that fun stuff. But as for the actual competition, all I do is watch the news for some updated info on current events in the world (for interview) and relax! Pageants are all about being confident in who you are, so getting nervous is only detrimental! Nerves show on stage! We have a saying in the pageant world, from motivational speaker Dale Smith Thomas; every time we feel stressed we say, “I’m not stressed out, I’m blessed out!”
What is something you enjoy doing in your down time to de-stress and relax?
- My guilty pleasure in my down time is watching Netflix or HBO Go with my boyfriend, Rob. My life is completely chaos 99.9% of the time, so that one or two hours a night watching Agents of Shield or Blacklist is all I need.
What do you hope to be doing in 15 years? Career wise.
- I plan to apply for the FBI summer internship this fall, and when I graduate, I hope to enter the FBI! My goal is to be a part of the Behavioral Science Unit to be sort of like a “profiler.” It definitely won’t be easy, but it is my dream job, and I won’t stop until I achieve it.
Photo courtest of Samantha Shay and taken by Brad Helton