DG in Miss LSU

This year one of our amazing sisters, Savannah Gray, represented Delta Gamma in the 2013 Miss LSU pageant! Here's a little bit about her experience working up to and participating in the pageant!

Competing in Miss LSU was an incredible experience that I never thought I’d have. I love to watch pageants like Miss USA and Miss America on television, but I never once thought while watching them that I would enter a pageant. I was convinced to do Miss LSU by Allison Jeandron and Marissa Liantonio. At first I just thought they were joking and I shrugged the idea off. But they were persistent and helped give me the confidence to compete. I finally told them I’d think about it and I decided to ask a few friends and my family what they thought. Everyone was surprised, but extremely excited for me! After feeling all the love and support I received, I decided to enter.

I was a late entry to the pageant and only had about four weeks to prepare. I attended a three-hour practice every Sunday night for participants, but I had to do a lot of work at home. I would never have been ready to compete without the help of Lauren Brink. Brink has competed in pageants before, and for everyone that knows her, they know how positive, supportive and selfless she is. Brink dedicated those four weeks to helping me train. She quizzed me on interview questions, helped pick out all my outfits, and kept me positive.

My favorite part of the pageant was the interview portion with the judges. All of the judges were very easy to talk with, and I didn't feel like I was competing. Although I only had five minutes with each judge, I was able to hold an interesting conversation with each one. The hardest part of the pageant for me was actually the opening number, which is a dance routine. The performance is not judged, but I do not consider myself a good dancer, so I was terrified to dance in heels! Thankfully, I only missed one cue for smiling too long at my sister and I’m perfectly okay with that.

There are so many reasons why I loved competing in Miss LSU. I got to make so many new friends because of the contestants were so sweet and easy to talk to. The atmosphere never became viciously competitive because all the girls truly cared for one another. I remember standing behind the curtain, while we all waited to hear the top 5, and I was truly moved when we said a prayer together. We stood in two lines, holding each other’s hands, and thanking God for the truly amazing experience we had all received. The love and support I received from my family, friends, and Delta Gamma made the Miss LSU pageant a life-changing event for me. I have never felt so loved in my life. I’m truly blessed to have all these incredible people in my life and I would not have been able to do Miss LSU without them!