First person: Unexpected pageantry

CNJ staff photo: Liliana Castillo New Mexico's Junior Miss winner Victoria Bailey is a cheerleader and enjoys reading Shakespeare.

Clovis High School senior Victoria Bailey won the state level of America’s Junior Miss pageant Saturday at New Mexico State University in Grants.

She is the first person from Clovis to be named New Mexico Junior Miss, according to pageant officials.

As New Mexico’s Junior Miss, Bailey won a $500 scholarship. She also advances to national competition and a chance to win fully paid college tuition.

Not part of the plan: This was my first pageant ever. It’s crazy that I won. Actually, I talked to some of the judges and the coordinator afterwards and they said I had the funniest and cutest reaction they’ve ever seen. I was jumping up and down on stage. I really didn’t expect to win. I really was in awe and humbled. I got into it because it’s a scholarship program.

The master plan: I’m going to the University of Alabama and I’m going to double major in English and pre-law. Then I’ll go on to law school and at some point hopefully get my Ph.D. in constitutional law. I want to be a Supreme Court justice ultimately. Their job is to interpret the Constitution and decide what is right and what is wrong based on that. And I think my English degree and constitutional law degree will help me help others better.

Pageant prep: There was a lot of paperwork to fill out to be in the pageant. I had to tell them my goals, interests, about my family, send my grades. A lot of thought went into it. The thing I liked about it is that it didn’t cost anything to enter and I still got scholarship money out of it. Another perk of winning state is that if I get a 30 on my ACT, my tuition is paid for. I took the ACT once and got a 26 so I’m going to do it again and try my best for a 30.

Subject matter: My favorite subject in school is AP English. I love that class. We’re doing plays right now and we’re reading Shakespeare and I love Shakespeare. Right now, we’re reading “Taming of the Shrew,” which is one of his funniest plays. I love that he can write in so many different ways, comedy, tragedy, sonnets. He can get his point across to so many different people because he has such variety in his writing.

Clovisite: I really like Clovis. I really like how, as a member of a Christian family, I like how things are closed on Sunday. I know it’s an inconvenience to others but I like that they take a day off. I also like that everyone knows everyone and calls this home. Everyone for the most part gets a long with everybody else.

To contact Bailey, call 575-791-8391. Donations can be made into an account in her name at High Plains Federal Credit Union.

— Compiled by CNJ staff writer Liliana Castillo