Miss America is drawing a new breed of woman and it includes Microsoft software developer Allison Farris from Washington, who is headed to Atlantic City to compete for a scholarship in the pageant next month, The Seattle Times noted.
Farris' participation in Miss America reflects the changing times and is in line with the dramatic makeover the pageant has seen in recent months.
In June the Miss America Organization announced that it was dropping the swimsuit competition, saying it will no longer judge contestants on their appearance.
"Who doesn't want to be empowered, learn leadership skills and pay for college and be able to show the world who you are as a person from the inside of your soul?" said Gretchen Carlson, chairwoman of the Miss America Organization, of the changes, according to the New York Post.
The changes have started attracting the attention of women who are not your typical beauty pageant contestant.
Women like Farris, who is an apps consultant within the Microsoft Services business.
She never used to compete in pageants growing up but that all changed in her Sophomore year at university, when she needed help paying for her schooling and decided to give it a go, The Seattle Times noted.
She won more than $10,000 in prizes, which helped pay for her undergrad and graduate degrees in management information systems.
A career in technology was not always in her plans. She initially wanted to be a concert pianist but, while attending the University of Alabama, she discovered music software, which kickstarted her journey into technology, Geekwire reported.
"I had this 'aha' moment where I realized how I could blend my love for music with technology, turning my passion into a career," she said. "I shifted my focus from pursuing a music degree to a technology degree."
Farris told Geekwire that her goal was now to help other girls and women have their own "aha" moments, which is why she is engaged in outreach programs like Microsoft DigiGirlz, to introduce girls to computer science.
On the Miss America website, Farris said that the pageant empowered her to spark passion in young girls who want to break the male-dominated trend in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.
She also uses pageants as a platform to raise money for the Children's National Medical Center.
"The partnership between Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and the Miss America Organization is special to me because of my childhood friend, Charlie, who lost his battle with Leukemia at the age of 16, but never lost his ability to shed a positive light within the community," Farris said on Facebook.
She said that seeing the effects the hospital had on her friend motivated me to raise awareness and money.
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