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Pageants are misunderstood

    Pageants have been controversial in today’s society.
    Do they glorify hard work and the platforms that each contestant represents? Or do they create snobby, boastful girls who care only about wearing a shiny crown and being able to say they are the winner?
    Growing up, I never really paid much attention to pageants, due to the less positive thought process that many Americans hold about these contests.
     However, about two years ago I started dancing at a studio called Lighthouse Dance Company and my perspective on this topic changed.
     Through dancing at this studio, I was able to meet numerous girls who compete in pageants and I got to know them personally.
    Once I got to know them, I realized that they did not fit the snobby stereotype I had associated with pageants. Instead, they turned out to all be great, selfless girls striving to better their community, not win a title.
     Now, I see that there is more to pageants than just makeup, bathing suits, and crowns. There is a whole other side to the pageant world that most outside viewers do not get the chance to see.
     For me, personally, the most important and exciting facet of the competition is the fact that if you win, you get to go to appear all around your county, state, or even nation, and promote a platform of your choice.
    The girls who compete for the right reasons work hard to bring awareness and change to a cause; it can be anything from donating organs to ending child abuse.
    If people would look past the obvious points of what pageants are about, they would realize that there is more to them than what meets the eye; a pageant winner who is in it for her cause can make a huge difference in the world around her.
    Hence, this coming August, I will be competing in Miss Monroe myself. I don’t necessarily desire to go on to the national level, but I definitely would like to win my county’s title because I am very adamant and passionate about my platform: bullying.
    I was bullied all throughout high school so I know first hand the pain it causes and I do not want any other child to have to go through that.
    For this reason, I decided , despite many years of negative thinking, to compete in the pageant.
    Already, I am making new friends, working on my talent, and trying to promote my cause.
    Even though everyone has different opinions about the world of pageantry, I encourage people to try to see the true side of it.
    Getting involved can be easy and if everyone stands up for a cause, then changing a society can be even easier. Pageants do exactly that.