Q&A: 2018 Miss Stanton Contestant #15 Caitlin Weigert
TATYANA ESQUILIN | FEB. 22, 2018 | Q&A
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (SCPDA) — With the Miss Stanton Pageant around the corner, the pressure is on for all the young women who are participating to represent Stanton. To understand their hopes for the pageant and what they have taken away from it, Devil’s Advocate interviewed them and got their side of the story.
DEVIL’S ADVOCATE: Why did you decide to run for Miss Stanton?
CAITLIN WEIGERT: For me, it was a big personal growth and personal achievement. In the past, I never saw myself as the kind of person who would ever enter a pageant, but over the past year I felt myself grow in confidence. I kind of wanted to prove that I could do it and I had a lot of friends who were also participating and I wanted to be with them too.
DA: If you win, how will you juggle your daily life at Stanton with this title?
CW: I already do a lot at Stanton, including class office, varsity swim and several volunteer activities outside of school. I believe that if I do win Miss Stanton I would be able to incorporate that into all of my other activities, specifically raising awareness for the volunteer opportunities that I do. I would be able to put more opportunities out there for everyone.
DA: What are some talents that you have that separate you from the other candidates?
CW: My talent for the pageant is speed painting which is something that you don’t see a lot in pageants or other competitions. I took my inspiration from America’s Got Talent, but they had a longer time period to do theirs, where as we only have three minutes, so I think that choosing to do that kind of talent with the time limit would be really impressive.
DA: What causes are you passionate about?
CW: I’m a Junior Docent at the Cummer Museum [of Arts & Gardens] and with Hurricane Irma this past year, the gardens were faced with a lot of destruction and we have been in the process of restoring them and trying to find new types of plants to be planted. Ninah Cummer had planted the English Tea Garden when she lived there before it became a museum, but those species aren’t native to Florida anymore so the Junior Docent program has been finding a lot of ways to promote and encourage donations to Cummer and its gardens in order to restore them.
DA: Who is your biggest role model?
CW: Very stereotypical answer of course would be my mom. She has always been my role model, maybe because she is the only other girl on my side of the family. Everyone says I’m just like her but she has a certain kind of strength and determination that I personally don’t believe I have achieved yet. That’s a personal goal of mine, to achieve the same strength and determination that she possesses.
DA: How do you plan to be a role model for the underclassmen?
CW: I think I have started to become a role model being a class officer. I volunteered at bridge and a lot of the freshmen that I had in my group asked how being a class officer affects my identity as a student who goes to Stanton. I think that overall my biggest fear coming to Stanton was not finding a place, not being part of a group, but over time I realized that you’re always going to find someone there for you. It might take a while and it might not be the same person every year, but eventually you will find a group. I want to try and encourage that among the underclassmen.
DA: What has been the most rewarding part of this competition experience so far?
CW: I have definitely felt a lot of new friendships grow and improve. I was friends with a lot of the girls beforehands, not extremely close friends, but so far throughout this process I felt our bonds growing stronger since we’re all under the same kind of stress with the pageant. I feel like we’ve all kind of grown closer as a group and it’s a really good feeling.
DA: Aside from yourself, which other candidate do you think should serve as Miss Stanton?
CW: I’ve known Zahria Womack since freshman year and she’s been one of my closest friends. She is definitely someone who I turn to when I need a helping hand. On the other side I also think that Mary Syla embodies what it means to be a Stanton student and a really good role model for everyone to look up to. All the girls are great candidates, I love them all.
DA: How do you think beauty pageants affect the societal image and standards of young women?
CW: I definitely think that it has a big influence. That was one of my concerns entering the pageant because at first it’s the stereotype that you are going to be judged on your beauty. But throughout this whole process I’ve realized that it doesn’t come down to just beauty. I really think this stereotype needs to change in society because it is not just looks that makes someone beautiful.
DA: What tips would you give to future Miss Stanton candidates?
CW: Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. That was the biggest fear that I had going into this pageant and turning in an application was scary enough in itself. I’ve come to understand that I’m special in my own way and it took a while to get to this point but it is definitely something that everyone needs to realize in their life whether they enter a pageant or not. Everyone is special in their own way.
DA: What does the title of Miss Stanton mean to you?
CW: The title of Miss Stanton to me is not an achievement, but a way to put yourself out there and show what you’re passionate about. Stanton has really become a second home to me, and being able to be someone who represents the school and somewhere that you’re passionate about is really important to me. I always try to show what I am passionate about and for whoever wins Miss Stanton, being able to show what they’re passionate about is really important.