Growing up as part of a pageant family is an awesome thing… Doesn’t matter if it’s a local, state, or a national titleholder – the generational influence that a pageant titleholder can have, is strong. As is the case with Stephanie Sterui, Miss Hawaii 2014.  Stephanie’s mom was a former Miss Maui – and Stephanie says she she was drawn to the crown growing up.

However, she didn’t enter a pageant until she was looking for a chance to earn scholarship money and discovered the personal benefits she would likely receive from pursing the crown. “It’s not about competing with everyone around you; it’s about competing with yourself and always working to better yourself,” she says. “If somebody says you can’t do it, brush it off your shoulder and keep going.”

Stephanie is a big advocate for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) – She’s been involved with Robotics clubs, Science Olympiads and Math Counts.  Upon graduation, her goal is to become a Veterinarian.  By the way, she also speaks German and played roller hockey on her brother’s team for six years (earning the Most Valuable Goalie award!). Junkies love multi-faceted state winners – and in our minds, Stephanie can do pretty much anything she wants.  All the Best Stephanie – Congratulations for making the island of Kauai proud 🙂

Here’s a little inside scoop for you… Out of 29 contestants, 25 girls are new to the Miss Hawaii stage – HOLY COW!!!  That’s almost unheard of in most states!  Who do Junkies think will win Miss Hawaii?  That information was released earlier this week in the Junkies Newsletter!  Click here to sign up for the Junkies Newsletter and we’ll send you our latest predictions!

GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!  JUNKIES LOVE HAWAII!!!

#BigJunkieLove

Miss Rhode Island 2014, Ivy Depew certainly made headlines at Miss America… Although, not exactly in the way she might have anticipated!

As all the contestants gathered on stage after the first night of preliminary competition, Ivy fainted.

The contestants were quick to form a shield around her – thus keeping the press from any unflattering photos and allowing medics to aptly take care of her.

In interviews after the event, Ivy said she felt fine during the first night of preliminary competition – but that she felt a little “off” walking out on stage to learn who would be named the prelim winners for that night.  She said she remembers talking with Miss PA, Amanda Smith for about 20 seconds, but then she blacks out.

Turns out, Ivy wasn’t de-hydrated or overheated, but she had a rare type of sinus infection that was undiagnosed.  In an interview with beautypageantnews.com she said,

“It’s not the typical sinus infection when you get the runny nose, the drainage and coughing,” she said. “It’s actually harder to get this type of infection, because it is located up in your forehead, behind your skull. It pushes on your optical nerve, your cranium, and your brain. Usually, it’s diagnosed [only] when something extreme happens. The pressure in my head caused me to lose consciousness.”

Thankfully, with the help of a few antibiotics, Ivy was back on stage the next night and able to complete her areas of competition on the Miss America stage.  After six years of state competitions, I’m so glad she was able to finish the competition!

Plus, her dad was the winner of the “Hot Dad” competition!!!  How can you beat that???  ***If you missed the Hot Dad competition, I swear you missed half your life!  It was hilarious!  Google it!!! 🙂 ***

As a graduate with her Masters in Public Affairs from Brown University and a possible political career in the future, we expect big things are yet to come for Ivy!

And – just as a quick side-note – Junkies actually met Ivy on the beach in Atlantic City the year before she became Miss Rhode Island!  It’s a funny story – I knew who she was when I saw her (gorgeous red hair and all), but the person I was with, didn’t!  That’s when my Junkie friend tried to introduce me to the 1st RU from Rhode Island and I said, “Yes… This is Ivy Depew…”  LOL!  You just never know when the Junkies might be lurking on a beach near you!

And now – who are the ladies we’ve got our eyes on when it comes to Miss Rhode Island 2015?

To see our Top 5 picks for Miss Rhode Island 2015, click here – then scroll down to sign up for the Junkie Newsletter!  We’ll forward our most recent Newsletter to all NEW Junkie sign-ups, once per day (so, if you don’t get it today, you’ll be sure to get it tomorrow!).

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE AT MISS RHODE ISLAND!!!

#BigJunkieLove

Megan Cooley is awesome.

Even with a bout of laryngitis on the final night of competition last year – she walked away with the Miss New Hampshire title!  Which might not be a big deal if you’re a dancer… or an instrumentalist… but Megan is a singer.  And a good one at that!

Megan’s been in musical theater since she was young and a former preliminary talent winner at Miss New Hampshire.  Despite not having much of a voice during the finals, she pushed through and competed as if everything was 100% fine.

And in the end – it was.  Which goes to prove, there’s no need to worry about things you can’t control…  If you’re meant to win – the judges will find you!

So – It’s “Truth Time” here at Pageant Junkies… New Hampshire is one of those states we missed last year… And honestly, we should’ve seen her coming… With her double majors in psychology and neuroscience… and her 3.92 gpa… and her lovely voice… and her engaging personality…. Do I need to keep going… or does this officially qualify as an apology? LOL!

We know great things are in store for Megan when she returns to school this fall to finish college.  This girl is driven.  She’s focused and she’s talented.  Plus, she has a total of $35,000 worth of scholarships thanks to the Miss New Hampshire program.  Anything is possible when you have that much going for you.  #AllTheBestMegan!

Now, we know the fabulous state of New Hampshire has always loved The Junkies – And that’s why our picks this week are “extra special”… There’s more to it than missing last year’s winner… Find out more in today’s video…

JUNKIES LOVE NEW HAMPSHIRE!!!  GOOD LUCK LADIES!!! 🙂

#JunkieLove

Miss Maine 2014, Audrey Thames, did something on the Miss America stage that’s a bit rare these days… A comedic monologue!

Although monologues weren’t always considered a rare talent, Audrey’s rendition of “Yma Dream” is the 1 minute and 30 second version of a hilarious story of a woman who speaks with her therapist about her re-occuring dream (or rather, nightmare!)… It’s super cute – If you’d like to see it, NJ.com has a video of it – Just click here!  Yma Dream

Audrey was also lauded for her costume during the famous “Show Us Your Shoes” parade… It’s as if she knew it was going to be raining cats and dogs – and she dressed appropriately! #Prophetic

A student at Elmira College, Audrey is studying nursing.  Last we heard, she is either headed into pediatrics or looking into becoming an emergency room nurse.  Either way, we know Audrey will get the chance to make a positive impact on those around her – just like she did as Miss Maine. 🙂

JUNKIES WISH ALL THE BEST TO AUDREY THAMES!

And now… Who do we think will be named Miss Maine 2015?

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch…

Who do YOU THINK will win the title?  Feel free to leave a comment and let us know!

GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!

#JunkieLove