It has been a whirlwind for Meg McGuffin, after being crowned Miss Alabama on Saturday, June 6. She has packed up and moved to Birmingham, ready to compete in the Miss America pageant and serve as Miss Alabama.
Q: How did you get into pageants?
A: I started when I was 6 years old. I was actually watching the Miss America pageant on TV, and I looked at my mom, and I said, ‘Mom I want to do that!’ So she signed me up for my first pageant, and the rest is history.
Q: Why do you compete in pageants?
A: I started just because I thought they were fun, and then when I turned 13, and I was eligible to compete in the Outstanding Teen program, I understood that scholarship money was available. And I entered Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen when I was 14, and I actually won. So, through that, I had a full scholarship to Auburn University.
Q: What’s your favorite part of competing in pageants?
A: I think having the opportunity to share my talent with the audience. I love to dance, I’ve danced since I was 3 years old, and the older you get, though, the less performance opportunities you have. So competing in pageants has allowed me to continue performing and do what I love.
Q: What was going through your head during the crowning ceremony?
A: I felt like I was in a dream, and then, I felt like I was going to throw up. I was so nervous, but so excited. You just have so much adrenaline running through you, and it’s a dream come true. And I don’t think it’s really set in yet that I am actually Miss Alabama, and that I will get to compete in Miss America in three months.
Q: What are yourresponsibilities as Miss Alabama?
A: As Miss Alabama, I am a spokesperson for the state, I am an ambassador for Children’s Miracle Network and I have my personal platform, Healthy is the New Skinny, and it’s my responsibility to make that my mission and to tell people that they’re beautiful for their actions, and the way that they serve others, and not for what they see in the mirror.
Q: Can you talk about why you close your platform?
A: I’ve been dancing since I was 3 years old, and so having grown up a trained dancer, I spent countless hours in front of a mirror in a leotard and tights, looking at my body. As a dancer, your body is your tool, it’s your instrument that you use all the time. And I compared my body a lot to my peers. I developed faster, I was much taller than the other girls in my class, I developed curves much more quickly. And I began to develop a hatred for my body. I didn’t understand that my body was unique, and it was special, and it was mine. And so, over the years, I have just truly come to love my body and appreciate it for what it is, and to be comfortable in the skin that I’m in. And I want to share that message with other people, and I want to inspire other girls not to give into the pressures of society and the pressures that the media place on us every day to be the thin ideal.
Q: What’s the biggestsacrifice you’ve made?
A: I think that people don’t realize how much hard work goes into competing in the Miss America organization, and just competing at a local level, you spend so much time working on your talent and your fitness and your platform, really putting a lot of time and a lot of heart and effort into your platform work is probably one of the most important things that you can do to prepare for the state pageant. So I think that just time is what I have sacrificed, but I think that I have only gained so much from making those sacrifices, and I don’t regret that at all.
Q: So what advice would you give to a girl aspiring to do pageants?
A: Stay true to herself. There are a lot of voices that say, ‘You’re not good enough,’ and tell you to be something different, but as long as you stay true to yourself and know who you are and what you represent and what you stand for, you’re a winner in yourself.
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