Q&A: 2018 Miss Stanton Contestant #6 Elizabeth Grich
ALEJANDRO FLUITT AND JERRY COX | FEB. 22, 2018 | Q&A
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (SCPDA) — With the Miss Stanton Pageant around the corner, the pressure is on for all the young women who are participating to represent Stanton. To understand their hopes for the pageant and what they have taken away from it, Devil’s Advocate interviewed them and got their side of the story.
DEVILS ADVOCATE: Why did you decide to run?
ELIZABETH GRICH: I decided to do Miss Stanton because I thought it would be fun. I thought it would be a good way to get involved and meeting new girls. The ones that did it last year said it was a lot of fun and really rewarding. It also looks really good on college applications.
DA: How do you respond to the negative connotations that pageants have?
EG: This pageant is not really based on beauty; it is based on your GPA, talent, involvement, and your ability to present yourself as an established, proper girl.
DA: Is there a cause that you are passionate about?
EG: I am supporting child education in Africa. The specific company I support is KIBERA HAMLETS USA in Kenya. It is a company my uncle spends a lot of time with. They help provide education for young kids in Kenya. It is very expensive to be educated because of a lack of a public education system.
DA: Is there anything specifically that you would like to change at Stanton with the Miss Stanton crown?
EG: If I was Miss Stanton I would like to show to future contenders that it is not about how smart you are, or pretty; it's about who you are as a person. It is about how you carry yourself.
DA: What does the title of Miss Stanton mean to you?
EG: I think it means you are a poised girl, well-mannered and intelligent. [It means] being a good person, able to put your own personal goals aside. Even then you have to work with your friends, and family to win. It makes you work as a team. I want to be this person that I described.
DA: Who do you consider your biggest role model?
EG: I know that the classic answer is “mom” but I would say my sister. We are close in age, she is a sophomore in college. She really made me who I am; my personality, my style. She is really smart, and she is a really good person. We are really close, and I just want to be a lot like her.
DA: What sets you apart from the other contestants?
EG: I am the least likely person to run, I lack the talent of the other contestants. I tried to teach myself the piano and it went awful. I'm not what someone would guess as Miss Stanton. I am an underdog.
DA: What happened with the piano?
EG: It was awful. I took some lessons, and I tried to teach myself. I was going to be serious about it but it was too difficult, so I decided to play the Pink Panther as a joke, and that also was too hard, so now I’m doing a monologue. I don’t want to humiliate myself on stage.
DA How do you define success?
EG: Success is meeting your goal, being satisfied and happy with what you've done. You don’t have to win, as long as you are proud of yourself and feel you did your best, than you are successful.
DA: How do you feel Miss Stanton represents Stanton as a whole?
EG: It is a good example of our diversity here at Stanton, especially in the talent portion.
DA: When you graduate, how would you describe Stanton to someone who has never been here before?
EG: It's an experience and it's challenging. It’s a unique environment there is not really anything like it. There is no school with diversity like this. It's a great school, and you can make a lot of friends. It's a tough school, but it's rewarding and worth it.