Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel crowned Miss Universe 2022

[Genki Hikari]

21. I had a relative get first runner up

At Miss Texas, back in the 60s. She was one of my grandmother's nieces or grand-nieces--can't remember which. Kinda on the distant side for me.

Anyway, you know how they say that the first runner-up matters? Well, guess what? It did matter that year. I don't know what happened to the original Miss Texas, but my cousin had to step up after the other one had to step down.

She got all the perks, and especially the only one she cared about, the college scholarship that came with the title.

Another woman I knew was a Miss Teen USA, and she was also in it for the scholarship money. She wasn't a dummy, but she wasn't quite "scholarship-smart." Didn't qualify for a lot of other scholarships based on other factors, either. But she did want to become a teacher, so she did the beauty pageant thing for scholarship money, because one thing she did have going for her was looks.

A college classmate was in the pageant biz. She was using it as a springboard for an acting career, because it gave her experience before TV cameras, and audiences, too. Oddly enough, she gave up the acting after a while, and wound up as a successful film makeup artist. She had learned a whole lot about what it took for people to look right on camera through the pageant biz, so she was a natural fit for that job.

So most of the pageant types I've known (admittedly a limited sample) were all using it as a means to an end.