Name:Â Emily Outen, Miss Statesville 2013 & Miss North Carolina Class of 2013
Year:Â Junior
Major:Â Public Relations
Hometown:Â Statesville, NC
Q. When did you first become involved in pageants?
A. I first got involved in the Miss America system in 2008 as an Outstanding Teen Contestant which is a mentoring program for girls ages 13-17. After I aged out of the Teen division, I made it a personal goal, not only to compete on the Miss North Carolina Stage, but to represent my hometown while doing so.
Q. What made you want to compete for your Miss Statesville title and later in the Miss NC competition?
A. There are numerous titles across the state that girls are eligible to compete for, but nothing could truly be more special that spending a year of your life serving your own community. Growing up I followed Miss Statesville from year to year, she was always poised, intelligent, and beautiful, and in the back of my mind I told myself that one day that would be me. I hoped that I could be the role model for young girls in the community that the previous titleholder’s had been for me. Serving her community is only one of the responsibilities that Miss Statesville takes on when she is crowned, she also commits to represent her committee and her community in the Miss North Carolina Pageant in June of the following year.
Q. What was your Miss Statesville Platform and what made you choose that particular cause?
A. I chose Prevent Child America as my platform because of my involvement with the organization through Kappa Delta Sorority. I have been working with them for two years now, and I love being an advocate for an organization that works so hard to support the future of our country.
Q. Are there a lot of tasks involved in preparing for a pageant? If so, what kind of preparations?
A. The preparation for Miss North Carolina literally began for me 2 days after I won my local title. Almost an entire year of my life went into the preparations. They included everything from designing my wardrobe, to countless hours in the gym, to working on my talent selection with a vocal coach, and hundreds of pages of paperwork for the state competition.
Q. What is the talent that you use when you are competing? How long have you been performing this talent?
A. My talent for Miss North Carolina was a vocal presentation of Bridge Over Troubled Water, in the style of Leann Rymes. I grew up singing in church and then joined my high school choir where I was involved for four years. The title was an amazing opportunity to pursue singing more and I was able to sing at some pretty amazing places and events throughout the year.
Q. What goes through your mind when you are walking across the stage at these big pageants?
A. Walking across the Miss NC stage I couldn’t even begin to describe what was going through my mind. I spent so much time preparing for those moments and once I was there my goal was to simply enjoy them!
Q. What is your favorite part about competing in pageants?
A. It isn’t the dresses, or the crown, that are the best part of competing, but rather the people that I have met through pageants. They truly have become my family and I am always thrilled to spend time with them!
Q. Do you have any pageant plans for the future?
A. I gave up my title of Miss Statesville in August and I currently don’t have any plans to compete again because my main focus is succeeding in school and enjoying the rest of my time as a college student here at App!