Aaliyah Kissick, senior in ACES, placed top 10 in the Miss United States pageant, which took place in Memphis, Tennesse from Oct. 26-31. At the pageant, she was the state representative for Illinois, since she was awarded the title of Miss Illinois in July. Growing up in the small town of Athens, Illinois, Kissick has been doing beauty pageants her entire life, along with modeling, acting and becoming a veteran of the Illinois Army National Guard. With her title, she is focusing on promoting her platform of financial literacy and is planning to try to visit every county in Illinois to make a difference over the next six months. The Daily Illini sat down with Kissick to ask her about her pageantry experience. Sign up for our newsletter! Email This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The Daily Illini: What does the Miss Illinois United States title mean? Kissick : Miss Illinois United States is a beauty pageant, but it’s also celebrating the fact that we go out in the community and we make a difference with our chosen platform. What I really love about Miss Illinois United States is they allow us to choose our own platform, and they help us promote it. DI: What happened at the beauty pageant? Kissick : The pageant consists of four different parts. There is your interview, where you have three minutes to basically give an elevator pitch of who you are, why the pageant system should choose you as the representative, what you represent and why. The next part of the competition is swimwear. As a size 12 individual, I used to be very insecure about swimwear. I am a veteran of the Illinois Army National Guard, but even at my best shape, I never had a flat stomach. […]
Click here to visit source. Q&A with Miss Illinois United States Aaliyah Kissick