Victoria Davis Interview
Miss Illinois Teen USA 2007, top 15 @ Miss Teen USA 2007
Why did you decide to participate in the Miss Illinois Teen USA pageant?
Oddly enough, I was actually just going into a pageant shop searching for a swimsuit for another small competition when the owner of the store stopped and asked me if I was entered in the Miss Illinois Teen pageant for that year. At the time I wasn’t and the next day she took it upon herself to enter me. The rest is history :)
What was going through your head when your name was not announced at the 1st runner up at Miss Illinois Teen USA?
This actually is a bit humorous as well. I was so excited to even be in the top two that I was thinking that the emcee was going to announce the name of the winner before the first runner up (don’t ask, I have no idea where my logical thought had gone). Initially I had thought that I was the first runner up. I began hugging and congratulating the real first runner up and that’s about when I realized that my initial though was incorrect… I was shocked to say the least.
What would be your most memorable experience at Miss Teen USA?
I’m not sure that I can label a lone experience as “the most memorable”. Obviously being announced in the Top 15 was a rush, as was competing before a tangible audience of thousands, all the while knowing that the performance was being aired live on NBC. I can say that the most valuable rewards that I have gained from my participation in Miss Teen USA are the friends and acquaintances that have stemmed from those two weeks spent in Pasadena.
What was going through your head when your state was announced in the top fifteen?
I was becoming increasingly concerned that I was not going to be name a semi-finalist after the emcee had announced the first five places, then ten, twelve, thirteen, and finally, Illinois! The level of elation my brain was feeling was indescribable. There was this sense of relief and for the next few hours, I could not stop shaking.
Who would be your favorite pageant winner and why?
The crowned Miss Illinois in 2007, Mia Heaston, taught me so much about life in general. As she and I were crowned on the same night as co-titleholders (she the Miss, me being the Teen), we became wonderfully close over the course of our year of appearances and preparation. We learned together, laughed together, and vented to each other. As she is nearly seven years my senior, Mia understood that I was not nearly as accomplished in my life as she had become; she understood and embraced that fact by teaching me everything that I needed to know two years ago and continuing to teach me all that I’ll want to know tomorrow.
What have you been up to since you gave away your title?
More than anything I am really trying to focus on school. My life in the titleholder’s world I know is not over. Miss Illinois Teen, I honestly feel (and hope) was the beginning of something wonderful. I’m hoping to take this year to really put my life into perspective and try to find a concrete career direction. Once I figure out all of that, or feel that I’ve at least made some progress, I’ll turn my attention to becoming the Mia Heaston titleholder of 2010
Oddly enough, I was actually just going into a pageant shop searching for a swimsuit for another small competition when the owner of the store stopped and asked me if I was entered in the Miss Illinois Teen pageant for that year. At the time I wasn’t and the next day she took it upon herself to enter me. The rest is history :)
What was going through your head when your name was not announced at the 1st runner up at Miss Illinois Teen USA?
This actually is a bit humorous as well. I was so excited to even be in the top two that I was thinking that the emcee was going to announce the name of the winner before the first runner up (don’t ask, I have no idea where my logical thought had gone). Initially I had thought that I was the first runner up. I began hugging and congratulating the real first runner up and that’s about when I realized that my initial though was incorrect… I was shocked to say the least.
What would be your most memorable experience at Miss Teen USA?
I’m not sure that I can label a lone experience as “the most memorable”. Obviously being announced in the Top 15 was a rush, as was competing before a tangible audience of thousands, all the while knowing that the performance was being aired live on NBC. I can say that the most valuable rewards that I have gained from my participation in Miss Teen USA are the friends and acquaintances that have stemmed from those two weeks spent in Pasadena.
What was going through your head when your state was announced in the top fifteen?
I was becoming increasingly concerned that I was not going to be name a semi-finalist after the emcee had announced the first five places, then ten, twelve, thirteen, and finally, Illinois! The level of elation my brain was feeling was indescribable. There was this sense of relief and for the next few hours, I could not stop shaking.
Who would be your favorite pageant winner and why?
The crowned Miss Illinois in 2007, Mia Heaston, taught me so much about life in general. As she and I were crowned on the same night as co-titleholders (she the Miss, me being the Teen), we became wonderfully close over the course of our year of appearances and preparation. We learned together, laughed together, and vented to each other. As she is nearly seven years my senior, Mia understood that I was not nearly as accomplished in my life as she had become; she understood and embraced that fact by teaching me everything that I needed to know two years ago and continuing to teach me all that I’ll want to know tomorrow.
What have you been up to since you gave away your title?
More than anything I am really trying to focus on school. My life in the titleholder’s world I know is not over. Miss Illinois Teen, I honestly feel (and hope) was the beginning of something wonderful. I’m hoping to take this year to really put my life into perspective and try to find a concrete career direction. Once I figure out all of that, or feel that I’ve at least made some progress, I’ll turn my attention to becoming the Mia Heaston titleholder of 2010