Freshman pre-nursing major Alexis Phillips (left) and Freshman psychology major Bailey Smith (right) are competing in the Miss Kansas Pageant Thursday, June 6 through Saturday, June 8. Phillips was crowned Miss Meadowlark in January 2019, and Smith was crowned Miss Frontier in August 2018. Emmie Boese
Emmie Boese
Lantern Staff
Despite what people may see on TV or in the media, two Butler students want to prove that competing in a pageant is so much more than just going after the crown.
Freshman Alexis Phillips, a pre– nursing major from Goddard, and Bailey Smith, a psychology major from El Dorado, will compete in the Miss Kansas Pageant on Thursday, June 6 through Saturday, June 8 in Pratt. They will have three rounds of competition with a private interview, evening wear and then a talent portion. Both Phillips and Smith will sing for the talent portion of the competition. In order to compete for Miss Kansas, a contestant has to be crowned at a local event or festival. Phillips was named Miss Meadowlark, and Smith was named Miss Frontier.
“I thought about it in my senior year of high school,” Phillips said. “It was only my third time competing. I guess no one really expected me to win.”
Smith began competing in pageants after fifth grade.
“Way back in fifth grade, my grandma took me to the pageant when it first started..,” Smith said. “It just looked fun, I’ve always loved to dress up, and wear pretty dresses and…oh this is cool. I competed the next year, and I’ve competed ever since just because it was fun….”
Although both women will showcase talent and beauty during the competition, they want to compete for Miss Kansas to develop a platform for causes that they care about, to develop life skills and friendships.
Smith has gotten a lot of experience so far in developing skills for the future.
“Just in pageants period, you get a lot of practice with public speaking, and it gives you a lot of confidence and poise,” Smith said. “It teaches you a lot of life skills that you would for interviews…”
Phillips decided to get into pageants during her senior year of high school because she saw an opportunity to develop a platform. She is excited for Miss Kansas to develop a platform for foster care.
“The foster care system is something in Kansas people don’t really talk about,” Phillips said.
Phillips is excited to start advocating for this cause and to set some goals.
“I’ve always been a person about setting goals,” Phillips said.
Smith wants to develop her platform in advocating to improve the mental health of newly diagnosed diabetics. She picked this specific cause after being diagnosed with diabetes.
“I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 2013, and I’ve went through a lot of hard times and felt alone,” Smith said. “I just kind of wanted to show kids that they’re not alone. Raise awareness for the doctors to know that depression is real especially with Type 1 Diabetics.”
Both women are excited for the competition and the sisterhood they will develop.
“Mainly because of all the sisterhood and experience that you get,” Smith said.