I had the opportunity this weekend to do something that I never thought I’d be doing. I was on the panel of judges for the Miss Teen Bloomington pageant for the Nationals. The show was broken up into four age categories. The little ones were 7 to 9, then 10 to 12, 13-15 and 16 to 19. So there were winners and runner-ups for each age group. I was very impressed with the poise the girls had. The judges were seated in a large room with just our table  and a seat on the other side for the contestent. The girls walked in, introduced themselves, shook our hands and sat in front of us. I was amazed at the ability for them to be as comfortable in their outward apearance as they were. I could tell some were very nervous, but they all did this.

Part of being a judge was to, as a panel, do a three-minute personal interview with the girls. I spoke with and listened to about 50 of the contestants. The judges were divided into two groups, half of us taking the older girls and the other half taking the younger age groups.

This was not a Glitz pageant, where the girls were all dolled up, like the show Toddlers in Tiaras, but more realistic in terms of outfits and makeup. I was amazed at the girls being able to walk into a room with 6 total adult strangers and have the confidence to answer questions and maintain eye contact with us. Quite a few of the girls stated they enjoyed singing as part of the ‘hobby’ question and four of them actually sang a note for us. I personally can’t carry a tune in a bucket. So I’m always impressed with someone that can.

One of the questions that I gravitated toward was what is your favorite subject in school, and I was very impressed with as many girls stating that Math or Science were the top listed fav’s. Many of the girls are interested in the fields of medicine, either as a doctors, nurse, anesthesiologist, or helping with the animals and becoming a veterinarian. I think back to even 15 years ago where, as a whole, girls were not looking at jobs that needed science or math as a primary classes.

Overall the girls that were part of the pageant had a sense of helping others, they understood volunteering as part of life, either through a school club, church group, or on their own with help from family members. I heard about girls assisting at the soup kitchen, Habitat for Humanity, picking up trash along the roads, working with small children at churches, orphanages or head start programs. A few worked with the elderly and a couple had gone on Mission trips with their families.

This was a great experience for me as well as for the girls that were involved.