Student competes for Miss America

By Stephanie Hepburn
Daily Staff Reporter

FILE PHOTO After being named Miss Michigan this summer, Engineering senior Kim Stec will compete in the Miss America Pageant on Sept. 13 in Atlantic City.

The University has educated Supreme Court justices, renowned actors and a U.S. president. Will the next Miss America be included in the ranks of famous alumni?

Maybe.

Engineering senior Kim Stec is on her way to Atlantic City for the annual Miss America Pageant, where she will compete against 50 other women for a chance to wear the national crown.

Stec, who will represent the state of Michigan, won the state competition in June in Muskegon.

"It still hasn't sunk in that I'm Miss Michigan and that I'm going to compete in Miss America," Stec said.

Stec said a critical distinction can be made between the Miss America Pageant and other pageant organizations.

"Miss America goes beyond the superficial as it requires a great amount of intelligence, skill in public speaking and talent from the competitors," Stec said.

The Rochester, Mich., native said the Miss America organization is a nonprofit institution that encourages the continuation of higher education. "The Miss America organization rewards winners of their pageants with scholarship money that can only be used towards school," Stec said.

Each pageant competitor must establish a platform; Stec promotes healthy lifestyles as the theme of hers. During the Miss Michigan contention, the final question required each participant to explain what she would do for her platform if she was crowned Miss Michigan.

Stec said her goal was to obtain endorsements to help form health education curriculums in school systems. "As Miss Michigan, doors may open for me that may also help the American Heart Association further some of their goals," she said.

Stec said good time management was the key for helping her juggle her school commitments, as well as her preparation for the Miss Michigan Pageant.

"This past term, I was balancing my classes with being the rush chair at Delta Gamma sorority, dancing with the Jazz Dance Theater and my appearances as Miss Washtenaw County," she said.

Stec said a good perspective is what gets her through the competitions.

"I realize that it's not the end of the world if I lose," Stec said. "I'm just happy to have this opportunity of a lifetime, and when this is over I'm going to return to finish my last semester of school."

The Miss America Pageant will air Sept. 13 on ABC.

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