Brianne Hiltz Interview
Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2008
Why did you decide to compete in the Miss Connecticut Teen USA pageant?
It was mainly on a whim, I’m not the pageant type of girl at all. I was really just looking for scholarship money for college.
What was going through your head when you realized you were the new Miss CT Teen USA?
Well, I never thought I would cry, but I did. It was overwhelming, I remember looking at my dad with tears rolling down my face and saying, “Daddy, they think I’m pretty”. Unfortunately, for me when I was going through middle school and high school I was made fun of a lot and some girls made sure I knew I was ugly and that I had no friends.
In one of your interviews during your reign as Miss CT Teen USA, you stated that you didn’t want your classmates to see you as a pageant girl. Has anyone looked at you that way at school?
No, people in my school didn’t care that I was a titleholder, they cared more about the football team that was losing more games than they ever have in the past and their cheerleaders. I was still seen as the drama club nerd. Sometimes my fellow peers would tell me that I won because the judges felt sorry for me. Another wonderful prejudice came along with my title, that I was dumb. I’m far from dumb. To be a “pageant girl” means to be a role model for young girls not girls our own age, we are perky and friendly because young girls feed off our energy of doing nice things and trying to make a difference also to believe in ourselves we can achieve by working hard in school.
What would be your most memorable moment at the Miss Teen USA pageant?
Wearing my opening number dress back stage and feeling like Ariel from the Little Mermaid and singing “Part of Your World” thinking I was alone, but no, the security guards were watching. They clapped and told me they wanted me to win because I was the most down to earth genuine girl there.
What was going through your head when you realized you didn’t make the top 15 at Miss Teen USA?
YES! I GET TO GO TO COLLEGE!
What would a typical day during your reign as Miss CT Teen USA be like?
Wake up, have some fruitie pebbles, go to school, hang out with my boyfriend after school until play rehearsal, then dance in the parking lot after play rehearsal with my friends under the lights, then I cuddle up with my over energized Pomeranian JET (named after the band of course) do my homework and watch some good old fashioned South Park and other awesome late night shows.
Have you thought about competing in another pageant?
No.
Lastly, what have you been up to since your reign as Miss CT Teen USA ended?
I live in Orlando, FL now getting ready to go to film school and no I’m not tan! I’m really busy mastering Guitar Hero, Mario Kart, and Mario Galaxy. Plus, I’m saving up for Rock Band Beatles I can wait to get the Paul McCartney lookalike Bass : )
It was mainly on a whim, I’m not the pageant type of girl at all. I was really just looking for scholarship money for college.
What was going through your head when you realized you were the new Miss CT Teen USA?
Well, I never thought I would cry, but I did. It was overwhelming, I remember looking at my dad with tears rolling down my face and saying, “Daddy, they think I’m pretty”. Unfortunately, for me when I was going through middle school and high school I was made fun of a lot and some girls made sure I knew I was ugly and that I had no friends.
In one of your interviews during your reign as Miss CT Teen USA, you stated that you didn’t want your classmates to see you as a pageant girl. Has anyone looked at you that way at school?
No, people in my school didn’t care that I was a titleholder, they cared more about the football team that was losing more games than they ever have in the past and their cheerleaders. I was still seen as the drama club nerd. Sometimes my fellow peers would tell me that I won because the judges felt sorry for me. Another wonderful prejudice came along with my title, that I was dumb. I’m far from dumb. To be a “pageant girl” means to be a role model for young girls not girls our own age, we are perky and friendly because young girls feed off our energy of doing nice things and trying to make a difference also to believe in ourselves we can achieve by working hard in school.
What would be your most memorable moment at the Miss Teen USA pageant?
Wearing my opening number dress back stage and feeling like Ariel from the Little Mermaid and singing “Part of Your World” thinking I was alone, but no, the security guards were watching. They clapped and told me they wanted me to win because I was the most down to earth genuine girl there.
What was going through your head when you realized you didn’t make the top 15 at Miss Teen USA?
YES! I GET TO GO TO COLLEGE!
What would a typical day during your reign as Miss CT Teen USA be like?
Wake up, have some fruitie pebbles, go to school, hang out with my boyfriend after school until play rehearsal, then dance in the parking lot after play rehearsal with my friends under the lights, then I cuddle up with my over energized Pomeranian JET (named after the band of course) do my homework and watch some good old fashioned South Park and other awesome late night shows.
Have you thought about competing in another pageant?
No.
Lastly, what have you been up to since your reign as Miss CT Teen USA ended?
I live in Orlando, FL now getting ready to go to film school and no I’m not tan! I’m really busy mastering Guitar Hero, Mario Kart, and Mario Galaxy. Plus, I’m saving up for Rock Band Beatles I can wait to get the Paul McCartney lookalike Bass : )