welcome to the secrets of college planning i'm your host at the new album and today we're going to get some insight into pageants my guests today are vanessa oriole and she is miss new jersey usa twenty fifteen it all start that you thought about going to college it was a freshman year senior year how did it all begin for you guys i think that i always knew that i wanted to go to college so probably you know freshman year you obviously know in the back your head that you want to get the best grades possible because you are going to be applying to colleges so i think that i've always kind of had it in the back of my head and i think i never realized it was coming so fast until my software year and then i grew really passionate about politics and the government how the government works so i realized what i wanted to do and then i realized what i wanted to go to college for so now how did you pick the schools did you have many schools was there a path that you took to get to the those particular universities what was the path that you took for yourself so i think first of all i wanted to go somewhere that was super affordable for me personally i want i avoid wanted to go to law school so i wanted to go somewhere where i could go to get my undergraduate and then go to law school so i was looking at you pad and falls very so i ended up going for you so i applied to a few different schools i knew that i wanted to not be too far away from home but still far enough away to like get the experience of experience in a different place and i knew i wanted to go to business school because i really think that business foundation is so important to have and i knew that helping others had a great business school so when i got accepted i kind of just made it that's where i wanted to go so now let's get into pageants when did it all beg universe i always looked up to them like they're just like these cool people and like they all have these passions and these careers and they're just amazing women that i like i always looked up to and i always wanted to get involved but i really looked too much into it though and then i found a facebook at actually and i clicked on and i was like oh this is the new jersey to get to miss usa and i get to miss universe and so i just signed up and i was addicted so i was actually volunteering in my community when i was fourteen i think i met a local project director and she saw me and instantly knew that i would be i guess that focus you can be good at them so she convinced me to compete in my computer for a couple of years and that i never really committed to it fully i just did it for the community service aspect   till this year when i won this round you say well so what's involved in being in the pageant well what do you have to go through to get there so you sign up and then they send you a contestant package after you do an interview so you do a phone interview with someone in the organization and they talk about like your goals your dreams what you want out of the whole experience because honestly the experience is what you make of it so if you go into it thinking i want to get the most color shape possible that's completely awesome for you and then you can go into it thinking i want to wait and it's really whatever the girl wants to get out of it so you actually said you have a phone interview and then you smith like a head shot and then you get all this paperwork you have to fill out that you know the mc is going to talk about you while you're on stage you thought interview form which is what the judges interview you from so the breakdown i guess of our pageants is we sit down with a panel it's between like five and seven judges to close interview behind closed doors and so and then we walk in our evening gowns and then the top five contestants will then answer on faith question that's totally random it could be anything they want to ask you and then they pick a winner and then that happens you're  continue to keep doing it as early as so people can start earlier than fourteen or so that everyone usually start in an age where you really can just start whatever this was my first year competing and i was eighteen and i actually won it was my last year eligible so the so you can keep competing but if you win the team title then you can come back and compete for the miss title but once you win either title then you can come back and break compete for it so i personally have competed five times before winning a title i competed for team twice they located in different locations how do you get there so for the maryland pozen personally we have a hotel and it's pretty it's pretty central to maryland it's kind of in the middle and i think it's easier for everyone to get to it it's an awesome hotel it's so nice the food is great which is really what's important and the weekend is just so much fun and that's something that i realized during the week i was competing i was like yeah i want the title but i'm having the time of my life and meeting all these girls from all these different backgrounds and they're all wonderful people so you have so much fun anyway no matter what you get out of it you know so a new jersey is similar to maryland i think all of the state pageants are sort of similar in the miss like usa system there at a hotel everybody everyone either doesn't know anyone or people know each other because they've competed so many times and have friends that you might not to say see other than when you come to the pageant which is awesome because you like i have so many friends i actually just went to someone's wedding that i met my first  t so it's a lot of fun like you get to eat that's a lot of fun we have like a dinner dance party that's a lot of fun so like she said like you get so much out of it other than just you know winning or losing like everyone says you know didn't you get tired of losing you lost four times you know and not really because i never minded to lose it's it's what you it get out of the whole experience you learn so much and you grow so much as a person and it really is beneficial to you as a person in the real world other than just pageantry and so every year you're a better version of yourself than you were last year so if you happen to be what they're looking for that year and they think you're great to hold this title which is such an honor then that's awesome but if not then you get so much else out of it too so it doesn't really matter so everyone that usually at the pageants are most of the girls might say it's i'm going to college i would say so yeah i think everyone that applies is generally goal minded whether your goal is to go to college go to cosmetology school or just continue being the best version of you possible and that's really what the pageant is that empowers young women to be the best version of themselves i think a lot of people actually have so many goals like you meet these girls and everyone has like these extraordinary like ambitions and it inspires you to like want more for yourself which is great and i think that a lot of people seek education and think that it's very important i think that's a very common question actually to ask in pageants do you think hard cation is important i don't think i've ever really heard someone say no to that question because it is important and pageants actually help you to rise and that occasion role too so it ends up helping out all around so you know if you win a pageant what's the year like what do you do in that whole year so the majority of my your so far has been community service based which is my favorite thing in the world and that's what i love projects that's what really got me into them in the first place so i travel all across maryland new jersey delaware kind of everywhere and i volunteer different events and i also represent the miss usa platform which is best buddies yeah i that's a huge part of doing this so we get to this sash is like our key to getting into charities like guys you know it's it's what you do with it so it's not about just like looking pretty and like standing there taking pictures of people other than the fact that that really does make some people say which is awesome because it's just you're just there and you make someone die which is like my favorite thing like a little kid seeing little kids be so excited to see us is just because they don't care what you look like they don't care what you're wearing they don't care how your makeup looks they are just excited to meet you opportunity for people to network to meet different people to make friends that they're going to have forever and then you do you make so many connections at different appearances you meet people that you never really thought you would meet before so overall it's just a really really great experience so what do we what did you study in college or what are you studying in college what are you doing now so i'm double majoring in communications them political science and then i am planning on going to do a three year program and get my law degree and up masters in public policy at seventeen mostly because of pageants i've met so many people at seventeen i was i can't believe anyone can say that i ran a regional campaign by myself yes and she was running for congressman which was the most fun i've ever had to have an office it was so cool so i think pageants leading me to meet those people and do those things really healthy pursue what i want to do seriously  so i actually graduated with a business degree from temple and through pageantry actually while i was getting ready for miss usa i was getting on a stinker regimen and i went to visit a local plastic surgery office they are really big  and in care so went to see one of the rest patients there and actions at meeting the surgeon that day he was there in the hallway like oh how were you had my fashion with me so it kind of like she said you know people like dr who because of your stash or are interested in talking to you because the fact but you get so much out of that initial contact and he said of the five minutes of talking to me it was like you belong the medical field and i was like that's crazy i'm going to take my business degree i want to go work in fashion i'm graduating in a year i'm done like this is what i want to do and he's like  worst thing that can happen you lose the day i'm like well that's true i don't want to shut down an opportunity so i took his advice and i went to shopping for a day and i fell in love with medicine so now i actually two years later i've been working for him for two years a medical assistant and i'm applying to physicians schools like the a p a i get my master's so i never thought that i would be looking into getting my master's but here i am going to pay so most most pageant winners and people in the pageants some of the fields are communication and becoming a lawyer and medicine and things of that sort see that continuing with with all the other contestants that are coming in i think so passions give you the best opportunity to public speak as much as possible and that's really what helped me become such a well spoken girl and i think that's what helped me get into college and meet people and have people really find out who i am is through pageants i just in the interview process speaking to other contestants speaking on stage it really helps you with your public speaking which is a huge part of getting older becoming an adult you know i agree with that i think that you know just having to sit through a panel interview like freaks people out and it's it's really awesome to be able to sit there and have a conversation with you want to get sucked in and have a good time i love interview and i think that it's the same thing  first school to go to college on to get into you know law school medical school just undergrad too it's just it's a huge bonus to have that life skill to be able to interact i think a lot of people especially the younger generations now are so used to talking behind the scenes in their phones that they don't really know how to communicate anymore and it sounds like people who want to pick up the phone have a conversation anymore so you know pageantry kind of forces you actually such a public speak talk to large groups of people talk to little kids and you talk to all different ages which is also great you talk to older people younger people you know whether you're being interviewed or not so it gives you those skills that you really can carry with you throughout your life now what are some of the benefits of being in the pageant  jobs there are jobs like you're competing essential in a pageant but you're applying for a job so you're signing up for a year of you know representing the whole country and you are going to appearances like she their schedule but you have all these people helping you with the whole team so you're just trying to make the country i guess a better place centrally with your title you're trying to do something with that each one has a personal platform so every sta local and national could have to have a personal cause that's close to their heart and they represent so that's a lot of what your interview is talking about what your particular personal causes so does it take up a lot of time to be in pageants compared to school work that you would be doing so i've actually learned a lot this year being this really team usa because it was my brush mirror so it was like october of my freshman year so i just got into college just got adjusted my college  actually five hours away from where i live and it's a completely different part of maryland so i was already getting acclimated and it was kind of hard anyway and then i was i was like oh wow so i have to be here here and here in the next week and i have to do my work and i have to maintain some type of social life so i have friends and i have talked to my parents as do all this stuff and i was like ok well i'm just going to have to invest in a lot of coffee as and try to stay up but it really has taught me a lot about managing my time which is the most important thing i think kids learn is a rush when you're college manage your time because i can tell you in high school i didn't know how to manage my time like i do you know and that really would have helped me do a lot better or so i think that's the best skill that you can get out of positives while being a state title holder is learning how to like  meticulous time to do work so you really have to like delegate what you're doing while you're a state a voter yet so like she said there's so much that goes into being a title holder and you want to do everything you possibly can to make your sta proud and make everyone else proud because it's such an honor to carry this title and so many people would love the opportunity you know that we were thankfully granted so you don't want to disappoint anyone you want to you only have one year you only have one child like i said once you win you only have one chance and so you want to make the best of it so you really do have to just kind of figure out how to manage your time how to wake up early also from with that you know and he's just you kind of learn and you kind of figure it out people think that we you know wake up whenever we want we have a hair make a team rol in and then they drive us and show first and that's really not what it's like you know you have to learn how to do your own hair makeup like we did today you know i have to learn how to drive around the state through the tri state area i probably you know i've driven to maryland as missing jersey you kind have to figure it out and you know it might seem like a lot of times you're like oh my gosh how magna's do all of this i have to be in ten places and you know twelve hours and you discover that you really can do it and it's really possible and she's not done with her yeah but i can assure you that when you feel like it's not going to happen it'll happen and you kind of just take those skills and you make them work for you throughout your life so there is this won't be the only time that you will feel like there is a lot on your plate this is not the only time you're going to feel like i have too much going on and i don't know what to do so it's a little really teaches you to sit down and kind of map it out and nothing is impossible if you want to do it and you want to be a title holder and you want to get your degree and you want to have a job and you want to do all of these things at the same time and volunteer your time whatever time you can find it is possible to do it you just kind of have to learn how to manage it correctly so that brings me to another question then is what's a typical day or week or more as a as a pageant titleholder so the past the past couple three months for me have been absolutely insane and i love it because i personally like i love being busy it's my favorite thing i don't  girl that was just likes to sit around and watch t v i can't do that i don't watch t v since i was fifteen i don't have time but a typical day usually is i'll come home do my homework go to libraries see my friends try to like work and dinner like up my class schedule this year just to say thursday classes that way i can do appearances on monday wednesday friday as which is the best thing that i've ever done in my high because last semester i had so much trouble trying to figure out classes in college you can't just not go to york or new jersey it's crazy it's insane so i'll get up at like five drive myself wherever i'm going get breakfast on the way and go wherever i'm going go home do more homework go to class today thursdays  and usually i take wednesdays off because i'm tired and as fridays i do appearances at my local libraries and at the soup kitchen and through my platform of actually been trying to go to a school in every county in maryland so trying to figure that out has been  a good test course and scheduling myself and then the weekends i usually do more homework and they do more of so kind of like how she ran it down that's kind of what a pageant girl's schedule kind of sounds like usually so when i was miss new jersey i was still at temple as well so i was also in college at the time in philadelphia so i would be driving back and forth from new jersey to philadelphia all the time you know and then getting ready for miss usa is a huge deal your i miss usa for it to be it's not like a weekend you're packing a bag and you're leaving it is a huge ordeal you're packing like sixty outfits you're designing a gown you're meeting with your coaches to perfect those interview skills perfect you know you who are you like figure out who you are is a huge part of not only you know winning your state title but also trying to get yourself to the nationals and you have to explain who you are sounds really easy and people can ask you like what your favorite color and you're like oh my god i don't know what's your color and so things that you really should know you don't know and it makes you sit down and so a lot of preparations for nationals is sitting down and figure out who we are and what it's our opinions on things it's not what your opinion is it's about having an opinion so that's makes a lot of time a lot of preparation so getting ready for miss usa or miss teen usa is a huge part of what we do and you know the community service aspect like she said and i also love helping people so we try to fit that in as much as possible so yeah it's a lot with school work and family and there's always something going on in everyone's life but you kind of make it work and the schedule is always different it's not you know this week is going to be like next week it's always changing is your family get involved in this i would say my family is experiencing it all with me i mean my mom lives five hours away from where i live it's always very but usually when i live here in social drive me and meet me and drive me part of the way because she just neiers but yeah they are the best kind of family and it's awesome because you have that great support system which is what you really need as a title holder because it's a hard year and it's hard to do by yourself and i know i've had a i've had a lot of growing up to do this year and that's of this year was that i really learned like oh my parents are going to wake up and drive me here because i live by my so five hours away and i'm i'm alone here no but that's another part of my family is that they do me as awesome and i love them and they're the best supporting me in whatever i do yet so family is a huge part in this whole thing whether you're a teen or in this you can really do this is not your family my family was a huge part of my year i have a sixteen year old brother i was younger at the time but my mom and my dad always always always verity like you know it'll be midnight or one in the morning and i'm trying to figure out what to wear in line to appearances tomorrow and i have to change in between i you know your brain kind of starts to shut down at some point  well everyone help so we have like a family meeting about what i should wear and how i'm going to get to a point a to point b in this amount of time and you know so as a miss you kind of take yourself places more and and it takes my mom but then you realize you know you are an adult and kind of have to figure it out and so but having a family that support too is really really important because getting to miss usa miss teen usa or doing all these appearances and not having an emotional like backbone is really hard because it does get overwhelming you kind of just need someone to tell you hey you're doing a good job and it's going to be ok so having them there is really important so we're coming to the end of our show and usually i guess what is life you want to give to the parents and their daughters that want to go into pageant what is what you want to give to them the best thing that i can ever tell anyone is not be intimidated by the way it sounds because i think going into the weekend i was like oh my gosh this is so scary like i have to have all these things but in reality it doesn't matter what you wear it doesn't matter what you look like it's more about what's inside that matters and it's not about how much your dress cost and that was my biggest thing what i told people who are going to potentially compete is it doesn't matter if you don't have the money to buy a dress because it's not really about the dress it's about you wearing the dress so that's the biggest thing that i want to express to everyone is that it's so easy to reach out and start you can reach out to any former or current titleholder they'll be happy to help you we are all so passionate about this organization that we would talk to anyone and listen we about competing because we love it and that's the biggest thing that i could tell someone is to not be intimidated by your money situation or the time because it's super feasible and it's a great great results out of it no matter what you do i totally agree with everything she just said my biggest thing is just if you ever ever ever think about doing a pageant or you haven't and now you're listening to us and you're thinking about doing one we used to do and it is the best experience losing to i've i've lost many times i can say that it is the best experience you learn so many life skills you learn how to be confident you learn how to interview you learn how to portray yourself in the best way possible you make the best of friends you learn how to make a bad situation