After watching the videos from friends and looking at the professional pictures is that I was not prepared at all.
- I thought I could tape my dress to my body instead of paying to get it altered. That did not work. It was 100% visible as I did my evening gown walk that I wasn't comfortable in my dress.
- I didn't know how to walk. There is a way to walk that shows your confidence and exudes "winner". I did not have that. Despite how confident and loved I felt on stage, my slumped shoulder, awkward hand placement, and uncomfortable places so well caught on camera all show that I had no clue at what I was doing. Not to mention my speedy evening gown walk and wobble in bikini.
- I wasn't toned. If you look at the winners of pageants, they are not skinny minis (at least not in the US) they are tight, toned, and athletic bodies that took months maybe even years of exercise to achieve. They want to see an active "lifestyle" in the swimsuit portion.
- Hair and Make Up. I'm not saying it was bad, but it certainly wasn't winning! Heck! Even I didn't like my hair and fought with it all day on Day 1. I should have been living in my pageant hair style before to make sure I got it perfect. My make up, well lets just say I followed a Pinterest tutorial the day of...
- I didn't love what I was wearing. If you're going on stage you should love what you're wearing. Especially considering the dough you put into it. I didn't. I wasn't really comfortable with a lot of what I was wearing, except interview. There are lots of reasons why, but I'm going to focus on making that not happen again.
- 0 Interview Practice I was 100% confident in my interview capabilities until I got in that room. It immediately put my back to my awful American Airlines Interview in Dallas. My leg wouldn't stop shaking and despite the advice from those running the pageant, those questions weren't off my "About Me Sheet". Had I practiced I would have been able to do it differently, but I didn't and so my leg shook uncontrollably and I looked at them in shock as they asked me some of the most ridiculously hard questions I've ever been asked.