By DERRICK GALINDO
Senior Reporter
NWOSU’s Miss Cinderella Pageant, is one of the long-standing traditions of homecoming week, and it begins Thursday at 7:30 P.M.
The Miss Cinderella Scholarship Pageant started in 1952, and started as a means for outstanding high school girls to compete in a local pageant for recognition and scholarships, stated on the NWOSU official website.
Through the years, the pageant has grown in such size that it is available to those outside of the Northwest Oklahoma area, and even those outside of traditional schooling.
This year, 14 high school girls will showcase their individual talents, poise and interview skills for the Miss Cinderella crown.
Along with this, each contestant gains a $2,000 tuition scholarship to use for their freshman year.
Depending on their placings in the competition, the contestants can also gain more scholarships to use at NWOSU.
The winner of the Miss Cinderella title wins an eight-semester tuition scholarship to NWOSU’s Alva Campus. They also get a two semester semi-private room scholarship to be used during their freshman year.
First runner-up gets a six-semester tuition scholarship; second runner-up gets a four-semester tuition scholarship; third runner-up, fourth runner-up, talent and congeniality winners each get two-semester semi-private room scholarships; and the interview winner gets a two-semester book scholarship of $150.
All the semester tuition scholarships are based on a 16-credit hour semester.
In order to receive the scholarships, contestants must participate in all parts of the Miss Cinderella pageant, along with attending NWOSU’s Alva Campus and living in the dorms their freshman year.
“I’m really looking forward to meeting and encouraging the girls competing,” said Jessica Davis, a freshman nursing major from Woodward, Oklahoma, and winner of the 2023 Miss Cinderella pageant. “It is going to be nice not being under so much pressure this year and kind of not having to experience as many nerves as I did last year. I’m really excited to be able to do my talent (contemporary dance to My Immortal by Evanescence) again. I’ve even heard I get to be in some of the opening numbers, so that’s really exciting.”
Olivia Yandel, director of the J.R. Holder Wellness Center and winner of the 2009 Miss Cinderella pageant, spoke of her experience in the pageant.
“I did not expect to win,” Yandel said, “we had always kind of joked at my high school that a Kansas girl would never win because we had always sent really good contenders every single year. I really was in it for the talent portion mostly, just because that was my stronger area since I did competitive dance growing up. Whenever I got called for Top Five, I was really shocked, and really happy with the whole thing. Doing the onstage question was really nerve-racking. I did not answer that well, but it must have worked because that was what obviously helped me win.”
Though her victory felt like a complete blur, Yandel remembered the friendly, welcoming and encouraging people who assisted with Miss Cinderella. She also said that this was an amazing experience that she learned from, and that all the contestants can learn from it too.
Overall, they just want to give them a great experience, said Lisa Cline, coordinator for Miss Cinderella.
“We treat them like royalty,” she said, “but we also give them a chance to get up on stage. We make sure their lighting is right … that the sound is the way they want it when they practice their talent, so that night they feel comfortable. Sometimes these girls will be back there, and they’re nervous to do their talent.
Maybe they’re not really comfortable being on stage, and just going, ‘hey, you know what, you can do this!’ and just giving them a lot of positive feedback.”
