Brittany Toll Interview
Miss New Mexico Teen USA 2005 + top 10 @ Miss Teen USA 2005
Miss New Mexico USA 2011 (Top 16 @ Miss USA 2011)
Why did you decide to compete in the Miss New Mexico USA pageant?
After my experience as Miss New Mexico Teen USA 2005 I knew I wanted to be Miss New Mexico USA one day. My year as the teen titleholder ultimately changed me for the better. I was humbled by the people of New Mexico and my new-found abilities to be a leader. After graduating college and starting my work as a Teach For America corps member I realized in my second year of teaching that it was the perfect opportunity to work for a goal, lead my classroom, and showcase the new community I had come to love.
What was going through your head when you were called into the top 15, and then into the top 10 at Miss Teen USA?
My only goal at Miss Teen USA was to break into the top 15, and even that felt incredibly ambitious. Being from a small state and having extremely limited pageant experiences I was unaware of my potential to crack the top 15. Along with that I had spent nearly three weeks coming to know & adore my fellow competitors and I felt that all of the girls I was competing with deserved to be among the top 15 well before I did. Given all of that I was incredibly surprised and humbled when my state was called for the top 15. I was completely satisfied with that outcome so when I was called for the top 10 I was in absolute shock! I remember my mind going blank right before I was about to go on stage for the swimsuit competition, the choreographer had to draft a quick map of the walking pattern and camera angles because I was so nervous.
Why did you decide to crossover and compete from the "Teen" division to the "Miss" division?
As I mentioned I loved my experience as a Teen so there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted a similar experience as a Miss. As I began to collect life experiences and mature I finally felt that I could be the independent and self-sufficient role-model that I envisioned all of my students becoming one day. I also was finally starting to understand who I was as an individual and how to love myself. Knowing that these were qualities that all Miss USA contestants should posses I was excited to push myself to new lengths and take on the role of a Miss.
You were chosen as America's Choice at Miss USA. What were the thoughts going through your head when your name was announced?
Genuine & sincere gratitude. It was such an overwhelming feeling because for the first time in my whole life I realized that I was never alone in the pursuit of my goals. It was more than I could have even dreamed of as a way to represent myself and my state at Miss USA. Realizing that my voice made an impression that I never knew it could and that my efforts were not unnoticed filled was wildly humbling. My heart will forever hold endless amounts of love and gratitude for the countless people who took the time to cast their vote. As I stood up there in the Top 16 line-up, I knew I was not alone. I felt the presence of everyone who had been on this journey with me and believed that New Mexico deserved to be represented on the national stage. I felt so connected to everyone who had been a part of it.
What would be your most memorable moment as Miss New Mexico?
The day my students chose the color of my gown for Miss USA. It was very important for me to let my quirky little four and five-year-old students play a significant role in my reign. When preparing a lesson for them on graphing, I decided to let them choose the color of my gown for Miss USA so that this experience was as shared as possible. I showed them a YouTube video of the gown segment at a previous Miss USA pageant and they could hardly hold in their excitement. “That’s gonna be you Ms. Toll?!” they asked giddily “Oh my gosh!” exclaimed Zachariah as he turned to Xavier. I was humbled, yet again, with the realization of who I was in the scope of their little lives. I laid out the entire classroom set of crayons and let each of them decide the color of my dress. They each colored in a square on the graph and then stood by in anticipation as the votes rolled in. With two-thirds of my students being boys, it made perfect sense that the majority of my students envisioned me in blue. And what do you know? That gown was the most beautiful gown in the history of gowns. I wore it with pride knowing that 38 of the most important individuals in my life invested their hearts into what they believed would make Ms. Toll shine like a star. Even in their absence I felt the love of each of them as I twirled and paraded on that glamorous stage. I will never forget that feeling.
Tell us about the work you do for "Teach for America".
Gladly! As a senior in college I was accepted into the only post-college opportunity that I had applied for: Teach For America. Despite my newly acquired marketing degree I spent the next two years of my life in a small New Mexican community teaching pre-k. The experience changed my life. I knew immediately after working with my first group of students that this was something I wanted to commit my life to. After finishing my two-year commitment in the corps I was offered a position to move to Oklahoma and lead and support roughly 25-35 teachers in their first & second years in the classroom (similar to the experience that I had just completed). I’m going into my second year now as a Manager of Teacher leadership Development and also am working to spearhead the efforts of our early childhood initiatives. I love my job, I love creating & problem solving and I love working with other highly motivated individuals in the effort towards solving educational inequity.
Lastly, what have you been up to since your reign as Miss New Mexico USA ended?
As I mentioned above I have moved to the great state of Oklahoma which I have come to love almost as much as New Mexico (and yes, I’m a HUGE OKC Thunder fan!). I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my life trajectory and what will be next for me. I’m preparing to go to graduate school to obtain a master’s degree in early childhood education and would one day love to open my own early childhood learning center for low-income students. Along with that I love to find time blogging either for my own blog (happybrittany.com) or other blogs that fancy my interests (thepageantguy.com & an internal Teach For America blog). I love balancing my work in educational reform with the creative drive living within me. Oooh, and I recently flew out to L.A. to film the pilot episode of a new CBS family variety show which was really exciting & fun. All-in-all since being Miss New Mexico USA I find that I am consistently presented opportunities to leverage all of the skills that I have acquired as a titleholder and I am continuously grateful for my experiences.
After my experience as Miss New Mexico Teen USA 2005 I knew I wanted to be Miss New Mexico USA one day. My year as the teen titleholder ultimately changed me for the better. I was humbled by the people of New Mexico and my new-found abilities to be a leader. After graduating college and starting my work as a Teach For America corps member I realized in my second year of teaching that it was the perfect opportunity to work for a goal, lead my classroom, and showcase the new community I had come to love.
What was going through your head when you were called into the top 15, and then into the top 10 at Miss Teen USA?
My only goal at Miss Teen USA was to break into the top 15, and even that felt incredibly ambitious. Being from a small state and having extremely limited pageant experiences I was unaware of my potential to crack the top 15. Along with that I had spent nearly three weeks coming to know & adore my fellow competitors and I felt that all of the girls I was competing with deserved to be among the top 15 well before I did. Given all of that I was incredibly surprised and humbled when my state was called for the top 15. I was completely satisfied with that outcome so when I was called for the top 10 I was in absolute shock! I remember my mind going blank right before I was about to go on stage for the swimsuit competition, the choreographer had to draft a quick map of the walking pattern and camera angles because I was so nervous.
Why did you decide to crossover and compete from the "Teen" division to the "Miss" division?
As I mentioned I loved my experience as a Teen so there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted a similar experience as a Miss. As I began to collect life experiences and mature I finally felt that I could be the independent and self-sufficient role-model that I envisioned all of my students becoming one day. I also was finally starting to understand who I was as an individual and how to love myself. Knowing that these were qualities that all Miss USA contestants should posses I was excited to push myself to new lengths and take on the role of a Miss.
You were chosen as America's Choice at Miss USA. What were the thoughts going through your head when your name was announced?
Genuine & sincere gratitude. It was such an overwhelming feeling because for the first time in my whole life I realized that I was never alone in the pursuit of my goals. It was more than I could have even dreamed of as a way to represent myself and my state at Miss USA. Realizing that my voice made an impression that I never knew it could and that my efforts were not unnoticed filled was wildly humbling. My heart will forever hold endless amounts of love and gratitude for the countless people who took the time to cast their vote. As I stood up there in the Top 16 line-up, I knew I was not alone. I felt the presence of everyone who had been on this journey with me and believed that New Mexico deserved to be represented on the national stage. I felt so connected to everyone who had been a part of it.
What would be your most memorable moment as Miss New Mexico?
The day my students chose the color of my gown for Miss USA. It was very important for me to let my quirky little four and five-year-old students play a significant role in my reign. When preparing a lesson for them on graphing, I decided to let them choose the color of my gown for Miss USA so that this experience was as shared as possible. I showed them a YouTube video of the gown segment at a previous Miss USA pageant and they could hardly hold in their excitement. “That’s gonna be you Ms. Toll?!” they asked giddily “Oh my gosh!” exclaimed Zachariah as he turned to Xavier. I was humbled, yet again, with the realization of who I was in the scope of their little lives. I laid out the entire classroom set of crayons and let each of them decide the color of my dress. They each colored in a square on the graph and then stood by in anticipation as the votes rolled in. With two-thirds of my students being boys, it made perfect sense that the majority of my students envisioned me in blue. And what do you know? That gown was the most beautiful gown in the history of gowns. I wore it with pride knowing that 38 of the most important individuals in my life invested their hearts into what they believed would make Ms. Toll shine like a star. Even in their absence I felt the love of each of them as I twirled and paraded on that glamorous stage. I will never forget that feeling.
Tell us about the work you do for "Teach for America".
Gladly! As a senior in college I was accepted into the only post-college opportunity that I had applied for: Teach For America. Despite my newly acquired marketing degree I spent the next two years of my life in a small New Mexican community teaching pre-k. The experience changed my life. I knew immediately after working with my first group of students that this was something I wanted to commit my life to. After finishing my two-year commitment in the corps I was offered a position to move to Oklahoma and lead and support roughly 25-35 teachers in their first & second years in the classroom (similar to the experience that I had just completed). I’m going into my second year now as a Manager of Teacher leadership Development and also am working to spearhead the efforts of our early childhood initiatives. I love my job, I love creating & problem solving and I love working with other highly motivated individuals in the effort towards solving educational inequity.
Lastly, what have you been up to since your reign as Miss New Mexico USA ended?
As I mentioned above I have moved to the great state of Oklahoma which I have come to love almost as much as New Mexico (and yes, I’m a HUGE OKC Thunder fan!). I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my life trajectory and what will be next for me. I’m preparing to go to graduate school to obtain a master’s degree in early childhood education and would one day love to open my own early childhood learning center for low-income students. Along with that I love to find time blogging either for my own blog (happybrittany.com) or other blogs that fancy my interests (thepageantguy.com & an internal Teach For America blog). I love balancing my work in educational reform with the creative drive living within me. Oooh, and I recently flew out to L.A. to film the pilot episode of a new CBS family variety show which was really exciting & fun. All-in-all since being Miss New Mexico USA I find that I am consistently presented opportunities to leverage all of the skills that I have acquired as a titleholder and I am continuously grateful for my experiences.