Growing up


Growing up, I’ve always been told I could be a model or that I should do pageants. Unconfidently, I disagreed. I never thought I would be the one to do modeling or pageants. I wasn’t always the smallest kid, and I knew nothing about those kinds of things, nor did I think I was cut out for them. As I watched pageants when I was younger, I laughed, thinking “What idiot in their right mind would do a pageant?” I became one of those idiots, soon realizing that they aren’t idiots after all. They are brave, confident, and hardworking young ladies.

The Letter


It was around 6 o’clock when I was sitting in my parent’s room, gazing at a picture of Kendall Jenner that she posted on Instagram, admiring her beauty. I sat there, taking pictures of myself hoping I would get a cute one. As I was doing that, I heard the voices of my family getting louder, they seemed excited. Then, I heard my mom tell my dad “Yasmine got a letter for modeling!” my intolerant father tried to stop my overly excited brother from calling me downstairs to hear the news, but it was too late. I already heard and dashed downstairs to see if what she had said was true, it was. I opened the letter and hesitantly read the words “Miss Michigan Contest..” then, my excitement turned into confusion. “Miss Michigan Contest?!” I disappointedly wondered.
All types of things ran through my mind. Strutting down a runway in a tiny bikini, wearing a big poofy dress with pounds and pounds of makeup, training and exercising all for a pageant? This all made me sick to my stomach. “Miss Michigan Contest?” I dismissively looked up at my mom who was sitting there with a smile on her face. “I’m not cut out for that.” I told her. She sat there, and then she said “it’s up to you.”
“Confidence” the letter said. “You will learn confidence and the meaning of friendship.” Yeah, right. More likely to lose my confidence and be tortured by a bunch of annoying, ditzy pageant girls.
Days went by. As I took the pageant into consideration, I thought that maybe I could have a chance at this. I began to convince myself that I wanted to do the pageant. Even though I kept finding things to encourage me to do it, I found even more things to discourage me.
The Fundraiser
One major discouragement was the cost. I didn’t want my mom paying thousands of dollars for something I had no chance in winning, so I had to think of a way to get the money for this pageant. As I read the Miss Michigan pamphlet, it gave me ideas of how I could get sponsors to help me pay for the pageant.
I got all dressed up so I could present myself to the sponsors with poise. I went to a bunch of places, but there was no luck. They all made up excuses that I know were not true. “Sorry, were already donating thousands of dollars to charity, we can’t afford help.” I wasn’t asking for much, I only needed a little help. I knew they were all lying. Oh well. I needed another way to get this pageant money.
I wasn’t going to go home without at least an idea. I was in tears from frustration as I sat in the car with my mom. How selfish could people be, I can’t believe nobody wanted to help me. “Yasmine, why don’t you do a fundraiser?” She said. A fundraiser… why didn’t I think of that?
We drove to a nearby bowling alley and we talked to the owner. I blissfully smiled and shook the owners hand as we walked back to our car. I let every social network know that I was doing a fundraiser. Many of my friends helped with the advertisement. I had a lot of people telling me that they would be showing up and bringing friends. My tears turned into smiles at the thought that I was going to raise money all by myself.
The day before the fundraiser, I lost all confidence in myself. I scared myself into thinking that it wasn’t going to work out, and that nobody was going to show up. As I got out of bed, I informally did my daily routine until 7 pm. I finished doing my hair and makeup and put on my current favorite outfit; a peach color laced shirt with my new black jeans, and we headed off to the bowling alley. As I pulled up to the parking lot, I noticed some of my friends waiting in their cars. When I entered the bowling alley, there was a crowd of people whose faces lit up. I was gratified. We all bowled until the clock struck 12.



Getting Started
Now, it’s time to prepare. I need to get in shape, and most of all, I need to inform myself on what to do in a pageant because I was clueless. The first step is training. I had a month before the pageant, so I ate clean. No pop, no bread, no sweets. I worked out every single day. Sit-ups, pushups, and running for hours and hours, it was terrible. Quickly, I began to see results and got excited. As I got lost in exercising, I forgot about actually training myself for the pageant. I needed to write a speech and practice answering interview questions. I tried to write a speech on my own, but that was useless. I needed help.


I was at school when I thought about asking a teacher for help on writing my speech, and of course, what better help for writing a speech than a speech teacher? I went to her for a couple of days, but she seemed too busy for me and it was no help. I thanked her for her time and stopped going. I needed help.


I was in the halls when I had seen a well-known English teacher; her name is Mrs. Gilmore. I approached her and introduced myself and told her what I needed. She was willing to cooperate. We spent days after school together, struggling to write a speech. Finally, after a week of work, the speech was done. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I would even have a chance in that competition. She not only helped me write the speech, she helped me with my confidence.


There was a week before the pageant and it was a beautiful, warm, and sunny day. I called my cousin over to help me prepare. She asked me interview questions, judged my appearance, and also the way I walk in heels. That was tough. I felt myself growing more confident as I seen my cousin’s smile enlarge every time I answered a question. I almost felt completely ready, but I felt as if I was missing one thing… MY DRESS! I don’t have a dress! This is insane, how could I forget my dress? It was a pageant, how could I forget my dress?

The Dress
How am I going to find a dress with such short notice? “I’m not buying you a dress,” my mother said with a smile on her face. The anger inside of me grew. “Mom, I don’t have a dress, are you insane?”

“I have the perfect dress for you” she said. And she did. This was the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen in my life. The dress was a brown colored mermaid dress with a drape of silver sequins that went from my shoulders to just above my left hip to my lower back. It had silver sequins and all of the beads you can imagine scattered on my chest, with a flower bow that snaked around my waist. The dress fit my curves perfectly.

Pageant Weekend
Finally, Pageant Weekend has arrived. The pageant lasted 3 days. The first day was getting all your information; what number you were, your places and your schedule. I was number 4. As I was reading through my schedule, I noticed that I had Red Carpet Event on the list. Obviously, I’ve never been on a red carpet and I was ecstatic for it. Other than that, I read my schedule and prepared myself for this hectic weekend to start.

Day 1
On the first day of pageant weekend, there wasn't really much to do, all that was on the list was practice, practice, and more practice. Finally, night came and the final event on my schedule was a party. I was pretty excited for it, since my day mostly consisted of work and practice.
I franticly looked through my bag to see if I had white tennis shoes and denim shorts, after I finished reading the requirement list. My mom and I drove to Target; noticeably overpassing the speed limit. We purchased my necessities and finally, I made my way to the party. I didn't really know anyone there, so I felt a bit awkward. I started to talk to everyone and made a few friends.
The pageant was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. It was a beautiful hotel, but the only problem was that it was about 30 minutes away from my house and they had no rooms left for my family and I to stay in. Once again, my mom tried to get a room, and with luck, she got one. We had to wait until tomorrow to stay there. As we made our way home from the hotel, I felt the butterflies return to my stomach. All kinds of thought were going through my mind and I started to feel sick. All of the girls doing this pageant are experienced and I'm not. Disappointment overcame my feelings.


Day 2
The next morning came and I barely got any sleep. Today’s schedule consisted of the formal wear competition and personal introduction; which was the speech Mrs. Gilmore and I constructed. I watched the sun rise as I paced back and forth. I took deep breaths to calm myself. As we arrived to the hotel, we headed to the ballroom for some more practice and meetings, which had already started. Taking deep breaths really did help. After hours of practice, it was time to get ready for the Formal Wear Competition. I ran upstairs to my hotel room and started to re-curl my hair, re apply my make up, and put my dress on. I slowly made my way downstairs to the lobby. The butterflies were back, they were having a party this time. These butterflies weren’t all nervous ones though, they were excited ones too. I got stopped to get my picture taken with people and some even asked me questions.
I made my way to the ballroom and got in line. It was my turn with my dad right by my side. My heart was beating and my nerves were going crazy. “So Sick” by Ne-Yo started to play and it was my turn. I walked up on stage, and the butterflies suddenly made their way out of my stomach. I strutted down the runway in my formal dress, but what I was really wearing was confidence with a side of poise. I fiercely eyed the judges, noticing that they were astonished. As I headed off stage, I ran to the dressing room in my dress and heels, acknowledging all that supported me. I got changed into my personal introduction outfit and ran back to the ballroom. I took a deep breath and told myself I would be fine. It was my turn again. I proudly walked on stage and said my speech with all the confidence and integrity I had in me. The crowd applauded as I finished.
Day 3
Alas, crowning day finally arrived. But we also have one more competition left which was interview. I waited in line with the rest of the 200 girls so I can be interviewed. I sighed when they called my name. As I got asked my first question, I got a bit nervous, so I messed up. Of course. When my interview was done, I ran to the seats by the elevators and called my mom, who had to leave for a couple of hours, and told her how disappointed I was for messing up. Her and her client comforted me and told me I did fine and it will be okay. I dragged myself back to my room and got changed back into my gorgeous dress.

The Crowning
All the girls were in their dresses and eagerly waiting on stage. I was fidgeting with my dress and eyeing the crowd, hoping to see my family. It was time to call the top 15. The reigning queen, Rachel, walk onto the stage carrying 15 roses. She and I became good friends. As they called off the first two names, I got nervous, wondering why my name hasn't been called yet. "Yasmine" I gasped and got hugged by the girls around me. I walked up and got my rose, then went back stage. I was in tears of joy with the other girls.

The 14 other girls and I got in line on stage. They started calling the queens court, and my name still hasn't been called. My cheekbones were in pain from smiling so much and the butterflies returned. Before they called the queen and her runner up, they have a long, annoying speech of how they're proud of all of the girls for coming this far. I was tempted to roll my eyes. There are 11 girls still standing on stage and I am one of them. The runner up and the queen get to go to Hollywood to compete in Miss teen USA while they pay for your expenses. It's time. They called the queen and the runner up and I heard my name. A wave of chills overtook my whole body. I was so in shock; I didn't know what to do. I got hugged by all the girls and got crowned. So did the queen. My family, who were all in tears, approached me and congratulated me, I got hugged, kissed, and got my picture taken several times. Even though I was the runner up, I still was beyond happy with myself. This being my first pageant and winning out of 200 experienced girls made my family proud and most of all, myself proud.