OLIVESBURG, Ohio — When Ariel Figueroa received a letter in the mail that said she had been selected to compete in the state National American Miss pageant, she never thought it would someday take her to Los Angeles.
That was five years ago — the 17-year-old boards a plane Monday destined for the seven-day national NAM competition in L.A., California.
NAM is a national pageant organization that touts its dedication “to developing the success of young women across our nation with a program that is designed to be age-appropriate and family-oriented.”
According to its website, the pageants are held in each state for girls aged 4 to 18 with five different age divisions.
Figueroa is thrilled.
“The motto for National American Miss is ‘I am a girl with dreams.’ That has really pushed me forward in striving for what I want to achieve in life,” said Figueroa. “I enjoy pageants.”
She said she competes in the pageants with her friend, Sydney Shasky, who is Miss Central’s Outstanding Teen.
The pageants have brought the two closer together, her mother said.
“It’s been a wonderful mother-daughter experience. Most of the time it’s her and me that go and spend the weekends together for the pageants. It’s been a great bonding experience for her and me,” said Cindy Figueroa.
“I’m very proud of her, I think it’s really given her self-confidence and motivation,” Cindy added.
Her daughter agrees. In fact, NAM helped her find something to stand for in life.
“I want to see the driving age increase to 18-years-old,” said Figueroa. “The human brain isn’t fully developed until you’re 26-years-old. If every state goes back to the driving age being 18 (years-old), it helps us be more mature.”
Figueroa has lost three friends to vehicle crashes in recent years.
“It’s not safe,” said Figueroa. She plans on presenting her plan to the judges in Los Angeles next week.
Interviews with the judges in front of a crowd and résumé reviews are also part of the competition. Cindy said the pageants are helping Ariel, and other girls, learn life lessons before going to college.
“It’s been a whole learning process, which is going to help her gain a lot of insight into the real world when she goes to college, when she applies for a job,” said Cindy.
“It’s really brought my confidence up,” said Ariel, who struggled with friendships through middle school.
“In kindergarten, I had lots of friends and once I got to middle school I was kind of a quiet one. So I’ve grown out of my shell a little bit and I’ve met new people from other schools all around Ohio.”
The junior is already planning for life outside of high school. When she graduates, she plans to work for a Caribbean cruise line to travel and save money for college. In college, she would like to study journalism and music and dance therapy.
She’s even started a book. It’s about foster children who see life a little differently, she said. The Figueroa family currently has four foster children.
