Miss California Outstanding Teen Competition, A Valuable Experience

Emma Grimes has returned from the Miss California Outstanding Teen competition in Fresno, not with a crown, but with a host of skills and experiences she deems far more valuable. The pageant was held over a series of four nights, each featuring a new preliminary competition. Grimes was competing against 46 other girls from all parts of California in fitness, talent, evening wear, and an onstage interview.

This is the second year in a row that Grimes has made it to the Miss California Outstanding Teen. Not so coincidentally, it is also her second year ever competing in pageants of any kind. In 2015, she earned the title of Miss High Desert, which qualified her for the statewide competition. This year, she competed in Miss Orange County, an open pageant in which any California teen is eligible. Grimes states, "I got into pageants because I wanted more interview and public speaking skills, plus the Miss America organization gives out great scholarships." According to Grimes, it was her mother who convinced her to dive into the pageant world, and after that it seemed just like fate. The day they started researching local pageants, they found out that orientation for the Miss High Desert competition was being held the very next week, a coincidence Grimes described as "an act by God".

Each night of the pageant, all 46 contestants competed in various events. They showed their fitness with group strength and cardio routines full of pushups, jumping jacks, and lunges. They demonstrated their poise and elegance in formal evening wear, and performed unique talents for the audience and judges. For her talent, Grimes played a contemporary rendition of "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" on the piano, an instrument she's been playing since she was twelve. Pageants are entirely a family affair, considering all the help Grimes' family has given her these past two years. For this competition, her mother bedazzled her evening gown by hand with 3,000 rhinestones.

Of all the preliminary competitions, Grimes says that her favorite was definitely the interview. The contestants themselves submit questions for other girls to answer onstage for the audience. Each girl at the competition has a platform they advocate for, and Grimes was lucky enough to receive a question that allowed her to talk about hers. Grimes is an advocate for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics), so when she was asked what high school course she felt furthered her education most, she knew exactly how to answer. She talked about her art classes, and how they've "really channeled my creativity".

"I'll always be promoting STEAM," says Grimes, and promote she has. This past May, she attended the Intermediate Space Challenge to tell participating fourth and fifth graders about the benefits of STEAM programs in schools, and taught them the importance of taking advantage of the science and art classes they have now. She is currently the STEAM ambassador for Tehachapi Unified School District. She's even written a children's book to explain the acronym more fully.

In the end, the Miss California Outstanding Teen pageant is less about winning a sash and crown, and more about teaching young women vital skills for their futures.

"Miss America wants girls to be able to better themselves," says Grimes, "I have no regrets. I still know that I did the best for me." As for her future in pageants, Grimes says that it all depends on how her senior year goes. "I'll be eighteen, which puts me in the Miss California competition." Whether Emma Grimes continues her life in the pageant world or not, she has undoubtedly gained skills she will use for the rest of her life.