Have you ever wondered what goes on during beauty pageants and what it takes to compete? Patricia Chin, who’s been competing for the past 10 years, shares her favorite moments, lessons, and advice for success!
- How it All Began
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Before she got into pageants, Patricia was involved in the performing arts, specifically, dancing and singing. Patricia got her first glimpse into pageant life when she was nine years old. One of her neighbors was judging for a local pageant and invited Patricia and her mom to observe. The next year, she competed in the same pageant and won the photogenic award at 10 years old! From there, Patricia competed every year. She won her first local title, National American Miss Colorado Junior Teen at 15. In 2016, she was crowned International Junior Miss Colorado Junior Teen, and she won Miss Colorado Teen America at 17. Patricia won USA National Miss Colorado Teen 2018 and last year came home with the title of Miss Colorado Collegiate 2019.
Over the course of her career, she’s competed in around 15 state and national pageants. Most pageants happen during the week of Thanksgiving and the rest generally occur over the summer. State pageants are much easier for anyone to compete in while national pageants are often seen as a bigger investment.
- A Learning Experience
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For Patricia, it’s the people that make the experience rather than a specific dress or event. She’s made a few close friends and connections through competing and still stays in contact with them to this day. She had the opportunity to meet and talk to Debby Ryan when she was doing research for the show “Insatiable”!
Her favorite part of the competition is the interview portion because you never know what they’ll ask, which keeps her on her toes. The judges are always incredible, qualified people and she always leaves with a fresh perspective about herself and the competition.
Throughout this experience, she’s learned how to present herself and has gained lots of confidence with public speaking through interviews and speeches. She’s also learned to not take things personally when they don’t go her way. Losing is much more likely than winning and that’s just a part of the sport. At every pageant, they say, “Different day, different judges, different outcome.” It’s important to use each pageant as a learning experience for the future.
- Addressing Misconceptions
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One of the biggest misconceptions she hears and reads in the comment sections of social media posts is that pageants are demeaning to women because of the swimsuit and modeling portions. There is a notion that pageants are solely a judgement of looks rather than a competitor’s character which just isn’t the case. Every person who competes is there because they want to be. They’ve dedicated months or years to prepare for each competition.
Another misconception is that there is only one “type” of girl who competes: Tall, blonde, and white. Clearly, that’s not true. Every competition she’s been at has been filled with girls with different backgrounds, body types, interests, and talents.
“If you’ve ever thought about competing, go for it!” she says. You never know what’s going to happen.