Q&A: 2018 Miss Stanton Contestant #7 Taylor Stair
LIAM WEEKS AND DASHYA ELLIS | 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?
TAYLOR STAIR: I decided to run for Miss Stanton because I've had a bit of self-confidence issues and I've been a little insecure lately. So, I thought that doing a pageant would help me bring out my confidence and help me find myself and some kind of confidence inside and it's kind of hard to do it, but, all of the girls in the pageant have helped and it's really been nice. I feel like I've developed a lot more confidence over it.
DA: How do you respond to the negative connotation surrounding the pageant?
TS: I see that a lot of the negative connotation around pageants comes from it being all about beauty, and I say that especially at this school, it's more about character because beauty isn't necessarily on the outside. I think this pageant brings out a lot because they're asking a lot about our intelligence. I think people need to stop seeing it that way, and it's definitely changed and developed over the past few years.
DA: What's a cause that you are really passionate about?
TS: PETA definitely, animal rights. I have a horse and three dogs, and three cats so it's something I'm really interested in. I volunteer at this shelter called Pit Sisters. They help pit bulls and, I think it really helps come to light that pit bulls aren't really a problem. I personally having a pit bull, think of this is important because I hate how people blame the dog and not the owner. It's kind of like blaming the murder weapon as the cause of the death and not the person, you know? It's just something I feel really strongly about and hopefully I can do something about it.
DA: How would you make a difference if you won the pageant?
TS: I would encourage us to branch out to the schools around the area and maybe offer tutoring and guidance, from our students to elementary school kids so that there is definitely a chance of them getting into this school, and it's definitely a good thing for them to want to come to tour here. I know especially this Saturday they're having one for the kids in this school a few streets down. I don't know how many will show up, but I would definitely encourage people to start a program to help these kids out.
DA: What does the title of Miss Stanton mean to you?
TS: It kind of means that you're the face of this school, and being a cheerleader, I kind of know what that means since we're the spirit, but being Miss Stanton is kind of like you are someone who cares about your school a lot, and someone who cares about the people in it, and you want to make a difference, and you want to make people around here happier, and you kind of listen to the opinions of the students here and kind of reciprocate that and tell the staff and the administrators so that they can better figure out how to make this school a better place for all the students.
DA: Who do you consider your biggest role model and why?
TS: My biggest role model would probably be Michelle Obama. I love her so much and all that she's done for America. She's probably one of my favorite First Ladies, and I love how she kind of took the position of power and didn't make it about being First Lady, she made it about the people, and helping the people, and especially kids; I know she took a lot for that. She started her own personal garden in the White House, and she helped the food and education system. She improved it, and now I know we have healthier options, and it's really helping childhood obesity, and childhood diabetes, and I know she did a lot for that, and that really inspires me because I'd like to one day, if I'm in a position of power, I'd like to do something like that because the children are the next generation.
DA: What do you hope for others to get out of the pageant?
TS: I hope we all gain more relationships, and more connections with people, and that we all gain more self-confidence. I know that one of the best things that we have definitely established, is more friendships. I have gained some new friends through the pageant and established even better connections because I'm doing this and I'm so happy to be with the girls that I'm with, they really are my friends, and I'm so lucky to call them that. I hope they all gain the confidence because I know some of them might not be as confident as others, but they definitely should be, because they're all so beautiful, inside and out.
DA: What talent will you be demonstrating during the pageant?
TS: My talent's a monologue. It's actually pretty controversial, I'm not going to lie. It was definitely a point of debate in my family because I'm doing why America is not the greatest country in the world anymore, and it's from one of my favorite shows, "The Newsroom" and it's basically about how this country needs to know that we're not as good as we once were, and we need to fix that because I feel very passionately about this subject. We're all so ignorant, and we think that we are the best country in the world, and we're really not, and I think that if we realize that we weren't, it would do a lot better to help the country and help us be there because we were once such amazing world leaders. I just think that America needs to be that role model to the world, to help third world countries. With our democracy and economy we have, capitalism, all of this is the best way to go, and we really are an amazing country. So, I'm really excited to give that speech.
DA: What do you think some of the reactions might be to this speech?
TS: Well I've had to cut some parts out because some aspects of it were definitely bashing liberals which was not acceptable, but I think the reactions will be a lot of, "She's very politically involved." I think it might be shocking, and it might be a little slap in the face, but hopefully it'll make people realize they should do more for their community, and for them to realize that not everything is about the next top model, or the next big T.V. show, or "The Bachelor" and all that. It's more about helping people around you, and helping, definitely in politics and getting involved with the country.
DA: How has the pageant affected your responsibilities in school and cheerleading?
TS: It's definitely taken a little more time, but I have definitely had to prioritize, and definitely keep it under school because that's obviously the biggest point, and I know that if there ever is a tie, it's GPA that's the tie breaker, it's so obvious they have to keep it in the school. I think it's definitely priority list, and I'm actually going to miss cheer practice today for Miss Stanton, and I am going to be a little late to the basketball game, but I think once it's over hopefully I can encourage the cheerleaders under me to do it next year.
DA: Can you elaborate on the type of competitors running this year, and how tough or easy it is to compete with them?
TS: There's so many amazing girls doing it; they all have so many talents. I know that Sampada doing a traditional dance from her culture, and it was so beautiful, her talent just outshines everyone else. I know Rachel is so involved in student government. There's so much competition and I know it means a lot for some of these girls to win, but it's not really my top priority for me to win Miss Stanton, I was just kind of doing it to strengthen ties and boost my confidence. So if I don't win, I'll be totally fine with that, but I know that there are many, many people doing it, that deserve that title and I'm kind of sad that they all can't win, because they're so amazing.