As she finished her chocolate pudding and twirled her spoon in what remained, Swathi Bojedla '07 mulled her chances of winning the Miss Rhode Island USA Pageant.
"There is no way I'm winning," she said with an attitude not usually seen in a could-be beauty queen. "There is no chance at all. I can't walk in a straight line. I fall a lot. I'm one of the least graceful and uncoordinated people in the world. I'm really a mess."
While Bojedla refused to even entertain the thought of being crowned the next Miss Rhode Island, this possibility may soon turn into reality. Bojedla is one of 35 finalists for the Miss Rhode Island USA pageant, which will be held at Rhode Island College Oct. 9-10. This bubbly and animated 18-year-old with pink streaks in her long black hair will compete for the chance to represent Rhode Island in the Miss USA pageant next spring.
Bojedla said that while some girls in the pageant are obsessed with winning, she is entering the competition just for fun.
"I'm just doing it because I've never done a pageant before, because when else are you going to do a beauty pageant? I just thought it would be a cool experience."
Bojedla said she has been dreaming of competing in a beauty pageant ever since attending the annual Peach Festival in her hometown of Lewiston, N.Y., as a little girl.
"There was a Miss Peach Queen every year at the festival," she said. "It was cheesy and really ridiculous and I really wanted to do it, but I was too young."
This summer, her dreams resurfaced. Bojedla found the contest's Web site and its application instructions. After being interviewed on the phone by pageant coordinators and sending in a picture of herself, she was selected out of 300 applicants to be a finalist for the competition.
Bojedla's friends find it amusing that she entered the Miss Rhode Island pageant.
"I think it's funny because she's not really that type of person who would enter a beauty pageant, but I supported her completely," said David Cooker '07.
Katie Timmins '07 echoed Cooker's words.
"I think it's kind of funny," said Timmins. "It's not something that I would think of her doing. It's not her usual thing that she goes out for. It's cool that she's doing something very different."
Entering the contest was such an unusual thing for Bojedla to do that she said even her parents did not believe her.
"My parents don't know that I'm really doing it. I told them once, but I think they thought I was kidding. And I've sort of forgotten to bring it up since then," she said.
Miss USA is part of the Miss Universe organization. If Bojedla wins the Miss Rhode Island contest and the Miss USA pageant next spring, she will compete in the Miss Universe pageant as the U.S. representative.
The Web site for the Rhode Island competition states that the pageant has three parts: an interview, a swimsuit contest and an evening gown competition. Judges make their decisions based on the performance of the contestants in each of the contests to determine the next Miss Rhode Island.
"(We're looking for) someone who is intelligent with poise and confidence," said Michelle Zoglio, pageant coordinator of the Rhode Island contest.
Bojedla fits that description, according to her friends.
"She's very confident," Cooker said. "She walks around and struts her stuff."
"She's very outgoing and meets people easily and she's well-liked," Timmins said. "She's very funny. She's very well-spoken and really likes to get involved in different things. She has very good leadership qualities."
Bojedla belongs to the Lecture Board and Brown Democrats. She worked for Howard Dean's presidential campaign in New Hampshire and worked for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign this summer. Bojedla said that she would like to work in either politics or biological research after she graduates.
Although Bojedla said she is looking forward to being in the pageant, she said preparing for the contest has been very demanding so far.
"I'm on a Miss Rhode Island pageant diet," she said. "No beer, which is making me very cranky. Lots of fat-free pudding. I'm frequenting the Roots and Shoots line in the Ratty. I'm cutting out chicken wings from my diet. And I'm going to the gym, which is a first for me because I'm not a gym person."
Bojedla said she thinks her personality and character will be her main strengths in the competition, for which she must raise $600 in sponsorship fees.
"When I lose," she said, "it'll be solely because of my looks."
Her friends, however, disagree and believe that she has an excellent chance of winning.
"She has a great personality, and she's a beautiful person," Cooker said.
"She's got her wrist wave down and she looks very good in a bathing suit," Timmins said. "I think her chances are great."
