Rebecca Kate James

I started doing pageants when I was about 13, and I haven’t looked back since. I have an older sister, and she actually got into pageantry about 2 years before I did. So as with most things, if the big sister did it, little sister wanted to do it as well. Another thing that really pushed me to do pageantry was the speaking part of it. The one I first started out with had a personal interview portion and a personal introduction portion where you spoke on the stage in front of the crowd. I grew up with a speech impediment, so I was always looking for ways to put myself out where I would have to work on how I presented myself and how I spoke. After the pageants, looking back at the videos of me being on stage and seeing how far I have improved my speech each time, it was a pushing factor for me to compete more.

I’m thankful everyday that I did pageants because it really taught me how to advocate for myself. In your personal interview, you are advocating for yourself and why you should be the next titleholder. A woman with a voice is by definition, a strong woman. It’s important to use that voice to advocate for others. It’s common to have some kind of platform when you’re involved in pageantry. For example, I’ve done things working with homeless shelters in San Antonio, suicide prevention, and combating domestic violence. More recently, I’ve been wanting to help young kids learn how to use their voice and learn those vital public speaking skills at a young age. I believe that this skill is an important one to learn, no matter what you do when you get older. I’ve done a couple of speaking events at elementary schools. Sometimes I’ll talk about individuality, and other times I’ll talk about the importance of kindness and grace. It’s an honor to be a role model for them through my words and actions- and they think I’m a real princess!

The role of being Miss San Antonio has two big prongs to it. One is being a leader in your community. Putting yourself out there, whether it be at schools, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, places where you can donate clothes- anywhere and anyway you can be a servant to your community. The other part is being a role model, setting the standard of what the modern woman is and what the modern woman is capable of. I grew up with pageants being similar to Toddlers and Tiaras and the craziness of it all. Even though I love that show, I think it’s also important to show that titleholders are much more than just a pretty face. We’ve had Miss USAs who have been chemical engineers, military members, journalists and who just have impactful jobs. I think that should be the more important focus of what the titleholder is and what the modern woman is. I am currently in law school at SMU! I compete in the USA circuit, which adopted the tagline “Pageantry Reimagined”. Yes we are beautiful. Yes we can look good in a photo and stand out on a stage. But we are also making an impact within our community and in our own careers.