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Local girl competes for title of Miss Teen Dallas
Sydney McDonald, seen above in her homecoming outfit for Lone Star High School, will be competing in her first pageant in November. Photo courtesy of Collin McDonald.
By Anthony Tosie, atosie@starlocalnews.com
Sydney McDonald has never taken part in a beauty pageant before. The thought never even crossed her mind, in fact. Yet on Nov. 4, she'll be competing for the title of Miss Teen Dallas.
McDonald, a 17-year-old senior at Lone Star High School, already involves herself in a number of activities at school. Her dad, Collin, wasn't even sure she'd have enough time to take part in the event when she first told him about it.
"I was surprised when she said she wanted to do this because she's never done a pageant or anything like this before," Collin McDonald said. "We told her if she wanted to put in the extra effort -- since she does so many after-school activities already -- that we'd support her."
When she received a letter in the mail inviting her to try out, she wasn't sure what to expect. After trying out, however, she decided the competition seemed right up her alley.
"If you give me something to try, I want to go after it," Sydney said. "I remember hearing a violin for the first time, and I pestered and pestered my parents for two years because I really wanted to try it, and now I've loved playing it for a while. It's the same thing with this."
As her father said, Sydney will be juggling many other prior obligations to make this work.
In addition to playing the violin for Lone Star's orchestra, she also takes all AP or honors classes, is a member of "The Posse" (the group at Lone Star that runs the flag at football games when the school scores) and National Honor Society, serves as the student council historian, and does volunteer work in her spare time.
Despite knowing nothing about pageantry, Sydney was still excited when she heard she made it to the final competition, she said.
"When I got the letter, that was pretty awesome; when I found out I got accepted into the competition, I did a little happy dance," Sydney said. "I didn't think I'd actually get through -- I had no idea I'd make it."
At the pageant, Sydney will take part in a personal interview as well as a casual wear and formal wear competition. If she wins the title of Miss Teen Dallas, she will go on to the national competition in Florida, where there's also a talent competition. If she makes it that far, she plans to play the violin for her talent.
Though she's already been accepted in the pageant and has met most of the requirements for competing -- a friend is loaning her a dress, for instance -- Sydney still needs some help from the community.
To compete in the pageant, she needs money from sponsors in order to enter the competition, which she hopes local businesses will help her with.
"I'm just looking for local businesses who can give any amount right now so I can actually enter the competition," she said. "If I can get close to the amount I need then I can finish it off, but I still need help getting started."
Prior to interviewing for a place in the competition, Sydney met some of the other contestants and found there were none that fit the traditional stereotype of a pageant girl, she said.
"I've watched a little bit of Miss America last year, but beyond that I haven't seen anything," she said. "Watching [the film] 'Miss Congeniality' was about the closest I'd come to seeing a full pageant show. But after meeting the other girls, it seems like it'll be a great experience -- it's not what I had expected."
Potential sponsors interested in donating to help Sydney enter the Miss Teen Dallas pageant can call the pageant coordinator at 1-877-403-6678. The event will take place Nov. 4 at the Crowne Plaza Market Center, located at 7050 Stemmons Freeway in Dallas.
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