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dance
CRO
NING
A C H I E V E M E N T
Dance major named Miss Oklahoma 2010
By Chris Brawley-Morgan
Emoly West, University of Central
Oklahoma College of Fine Arts and
Design dance major and the reigning Miss
Oklahoma, may be the most beautiful
woman in the state. She also may be the
most persistent.
In fact, West said, when her UCO dance
instructors would talk in class about the
steely resolve required by some goals, she
always felt like they were talking directly
to her.
“They are so passionate and talked so
much about mental fortitude. I always felt
like they were speaking to me,” said West, a
senior majoring in dance performance and
broadcast journalism.
Since she was 18, West gave 110 percent
during each of the five times she competed
for the Miss Oklahoma title. “I am an
athlete; and I am a competitor,” she said.
Miss Oklahoma contestants must be
between the ages of 18 and 24. Last June,
when West competed again, she was 24.
The 2010 pageant was her last chance “to
go for the gold,” she said.
During the week-long event in
Tulsa, West triumphed in the swimsuit
competition, received a $1,000 scholarship
for a classical ballet performance and then
won the coveted crown.
West said that at the moment of winning,
she thought, “everything was worth it. All
the work in the gym and the dance studio.
All the hours reading and watching the
news. It was all worth it.”
At the time, she said, “I also thought: I
have to do it all again for Miss America.”
West was a little girl when she first
decided to become Miss Oklahoma, the
result of watching the national pageant
with her great grandmother, who told her:
“ ‘you could do this someday.’ So at 7, I set
my first goal.”
As she grew up, West took both dance
and swimming lessons until her swimming
coach suggested she intensify her practices
and try for an Olympic position. Instead,
she quit.
“That season was over. At 16, I already
knew. I wanted to be Miss Oklahoma and
Miss America, and I knew swimming would
not get me there,” she said.
West, who was home-schooled, began
college at Oklahoma Christian University.
She competed as Miss Keystone Lake
and Miss Green Country in the Miss
Oklahoma pageant.
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