Vadla wins Junior Miss crown
After a week of rehearsals, luncheons, volunteer service projects and more rehearsals, when the show was over Saturday night, Soldotna High School senior Kaitlin Vadla walked away with the title of 2004 Alaska Junior Miss.
Vadla was chosen over 22 other high school seniors from around the state including 10 from the Kenai Peninsula by a panel of out-of-state judges.
"I don't think it's set in yet," Vadla said between classes Monday at SoHi. "I'm very surprised, but very excited."
Her win is especially surprising to her, considering she almost didn't enter. Vadla was leery of the contest before she looked into it more closely. She said she assumed Junior Miss was a beauty pageant.
"I thought, 'This isn't my thing,'" she said.
That was until she discovered the contest awards college scholarships and emphasizes scholastic achievement, talent in the creative-performing arts and knowledge of current events and politics.
"It's very academically oriented," Vadla said. "It's not a beauty contest."
Contestants also are judged on poise and fitness, but those are the only categories that involve the physical, she said.
To illustrate that many of the contestants are more comfortable with the cerebral than the physical, Vadla noted the trouble many of the contestants had with their heels.
"Everyone was afraid of falling over in their shoes," she said.
What makes Junior Miss unique among scholarship programs is the breadth of abilities and achievements it takes into consideration, according to Alaska Junior Miss Publicity Chair Teresa Gamble.
"Junior Miss is looking for the well-rounded individual," Gamble said. "It's the only scholarship program that awards participants for being well-rounded."
Part of that well-roundedness is talent. Vadla's talent is the oboe. She played her own arrangement of the classical piece, "Solvjeg's Song," in order to make it fit in the 90 seconds contestants were allowed to demonstrate their talent.
For being the most well-rounded, Vadla not only won the Alaska Junior Miss title, but the substantial prizes that come with it. She receives a four-year Presidential Tuition scholarship to the University of Alaska, $3,000 cash scholarship, an Alaska state winner medallion, professional photo session and an all-expense-paid trip to the 46th annual America's Junior Miss National Finals in Mobile.
Vadla isn't sure if she'll use the scholarship to the University of Alaska. Although she's considering the Fairbanks campus, her school of choice is Stanford University, in California's San Francisco Bay area. She won't find out until April, however, if she's been accepted.
Vadla's career goals also are up in the air. Regardless of where she attends college, she hopes to become either a neurobiological researcher, government official, or, as she puts it, "starving writer."
"I'll just have to try and fail and see," she said.
As for the Junior Miss national competition, Vadla's looking forward to representing more than herself.
"It's not really like a personal competition anymore," she said. "I'm representing all of Alaska, not just Kaitlin Vadla."
Alaska Junior Miss
Kaitlin Vadla
Parents: Bruce and Karen Vadla
Hometown: Soldotna
Prize:Four-year Presidential Tuition scholarship from the University of Alaska, $3,000 cash scholarship, trip to national finals, state medallion and professional photo session.
First runner-up
Sonja Head
Parents: Dr. David and Lori Head
Hometown: Nome
Prize: Two-year Presidential Tuition scholarship from UA and $1,500 cash scholarship.
Second runner-up
Brittany Gardner
Parents: Neldon and Katherine Gardner
Hometown: Soldotna
Prize: $750 cash scholarship
Outstanding Scholastic
Achievement Awards:
Colleen Gould
Parents: Thomas and Cynthia Gould
Hometown: Anchorage
Prize: $400 cash scholarship
Emily Phillips
Parents: Daniel and Lisa Phillips
Hometown: Anchorage
Prize: $400 cash scholarship
Outstanding Talent Awards
Brittany Gardner
Jhene Rozak
Parents: Greg and Darlene Rozak
Hometown: Kasilof
Prize: $400 cash scholarship
Outstanding Fitness Award Winners
Brittany Gardner
Kaitlin Vadla
Prize: $400 cash scholarship, each
Outstanding Poise Award Winners
Brittany Gardner
Kaitlin Vadla
Prizes: $400 cash scholarship, each
Marti Steckel "Spirit of Junior Miss" Award
Lindsay Dudley
Parents: Roy and Tammy Dudley
Hometown: Soldotna
Prize: $400 cash scholarship
"Be Your Best Self" Essay Award
Karina Petersen
Parents: Dave and Trudy Peterson
Hometown: Soldotna
Prize: $150 cash scholarship