Elizabeth Fechtel is no rookie when it comes to pageants.
The former Miss America’s Outstanding Teen 2012 is now this year’s Miss UF.
The 19-year-old telecommunication sophomore was one of 18 contestants at this year’s pageant and said she saw it as an opportunity to do what she loves. But when asked whether or not she thought she was going to win, Fechtel’s immediate answer was no.
“Because I’d done pageants before, some of my friends thought, ‘oh, easy breezy,’” she said. “But I knew how difficult it was walking on stage in a gown.”
Miss UF is a preliminary pageant to Miss Florida, which is preliminary to Miss America.
“There are so many pageants, but there is only one Miss America,” she said.
As Miss UF, Fechtel will uphold the four pillars of the Miss America organization: style, service, scholarship, and success.
Dressing up and being in the pageant is fun, Fechtel said, but there is a lot more to the job than that.
“It almost annoyed me when people would call me a pageant girl,” Fechtel said. “What they’re looking for is very specific. It’s not just some girl in a gown.”
Fechtel said in her opinion, judges look for someone who cares about the university, the students, and the people at UF – someone who appreciates the diversity on campus.
Even though she’s in the spotlight because she’s Miss UF, Fechtel said she’s still a normal student who has to worry about exams and all of her regular responsibilities. She is a Student Senator and a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority.
Fechtel said she is also a dancer but hasn’t had the chance to dance much since she graduated high school. Preparing for the pageant gave her the opportunity to dance again. For the talent portion of the competition, Fechtel did a jazz musical theater dance.
“Upbeat music makes me excited to perform,” she said.
In addition to dancing, Fechtel said the pageant gave her the chance to develop her platform, which is engaging youth in the community.
She said she is looking forward to working with the Children’s Miracle Network and glad to be able to have a one-on-one relationship with the patients at UF Health Shands Hospital.
Fechtel will have a lot of responsibilities in the coming months, but she said she’s full of anticipation.
“I look at it as a calendar full of opportunity,” she said.