The Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen scholarship competition was held in Provo, Utah, on February 25-26. I was able to attend this event as Miss Bryce Canyon. While I was there I was able to cheer on our own Miss Garfield’s Outstanding Teen, Nadia G. from Escalante, and I was also able to better prepare myself for the Miss Utah pageant. This was an amazing experience for everyone involved, and I can honestly say that now I am more excited than ever as I prepare to compete at Miss Utah in June.
This year saw 42 contestants participating in the scholarship competition, and it was rewarding to see Jocelyn Osmond of Alpine crowned as this year’s Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen!
Watching this scholarship competition allowed me to mentally prepare myself for the competition at Miss Utah. I was able to watch girls perform their talents they have spent years perfecting. I was able to watch contestants answer onstage questions as I thought through how I would answer those questions myself. Seeing all the contestants congratulate each other afterward as the awards were handed out was definitely something that I will remember forever. While some might have been upset that they did not win or receive an award, the majority of them were ecstatic for their fellow contestants. While at the competition, the contestants did not only make friends for the weekend. Instead, they made friends for the rest of their lives.
I was also able to hear some of the contestants talk about their Social Impact Initiatives (SII). They ranged from helping those with mental health issues to addressing our overuse of social media. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to share my own SII with the Miss Utah community. My Social Impact Initiative is based around childhood literacy. My goal has always been to help provide the students in Garfield County with more reading resources while encouraging them to read more. Reading makes a huge impact in a child’s life and has been shown to increase a child’s creativity, improve their academics, and increase their vocabulary.
So far as Miss Bryce Canyon I have been able to provide each student in Garfield County with 2 nice books that they are able to take home and keep. Each student received one book for their birthday and another book for Christmas. Over the last seven months as Miss Bryce Canyon, I have fundraised over $5,000 for my social impact initiative and donated over 700 books. I have been so thankful to be able to serve my community and help out with everything that I can.
Preparing for Miss Utah seems to take a lot of work, but a rewarding experience means nothing if there was no work put into the preparation. The Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen scholarship competition has allowed me to witness a competition similar to the one I will be competing in. I am so proud of Nadia and how well she did, and I hope that I can make my own community as proud as she made hers.
– by Trinity Whitfield, Miss Bryce Canyon
Feature image caption: Teens from across the State of Utah stand on the stage of the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo.
Read more about the competition in My Experience as Miss Garfield Outstanding Teen.