Winter 2011 - 65° Magazine

Aside from her academics, Admire was also very athletic. In high school she
played softball, basketball, volleyball and was a sprinter and pole-vaulter for track
and field. Now Admire concentrates on long distance running for charities.
After graduating from high school in Illinois, Admire attended college in her birth
state of Texas. While at the University of North Texas, she spent her junior year
abroad in Egypt to fulfill her interest in foreign language and cultures.
At times she felt her stay was difficult due to stereotypes about Westerners, but
her blue eyes still widened and a grin covered her face when asked about the
experience. Some of her favorite memories include bolting through the desert
to see the pyramids at sunset and time spent with her students as a volunteer
English teacher. This exposure also brought to life the concepts she studied and
created her desire to eliminate cultural stereotypes.
More Than Miss Congeniality
by Monica Guzman / Photography by D.M. Troutman
Kristyn Admire remembers her first visit to Disney World. She was five and carried
an autograph book filled with princesses’ signatures. Her cousins had raved about
the roller coaster Space Mountain and Admire was not about to be left behind.
The little girl enthusiastically boarded the ride and although her eyes remained
half closed throughout the ride, she enjoyed the thrill. Kristen, now 23, still takes
chances, and as Miss Monterey Bay, one can say she is still chasing crowns.
Currently Kristen is a second year graduate student at the Monterey Institute of
International Studies, mastering in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies with a
language certificate in Arabic.
Academics were always a priority for Admire. She took advanced classes and
worked hard to get As. She was very hard on herself when she didn’t make the
grade, but despite the high expectations her parents had of her, they were proud.
Another motivation for her academic work was to be like her aunt Kay. “She was
able to provide well for herself and her family and I think that’s where I saw the
difference a higher education would have on your life,” Admire says.
Admire’s passion for language and culture began in kindergarten. Two of her best
friends were Japanese and Mexican. She remembers hearing her friends speak
with their families in their native languages and watching them prepare their native
foods. “From then, I knew the world was much bigger and I wanted to explore and
travel and see all there was to see,” Admire says.
When not immersed in schoolwork, Admire enjoys skydiving, scuba diving and
music. One of her all-time favorite bands is Green Day who, at their concerts,
choose audience members to perform songs with them. Admire described how
at the end, the lead singer gives away his guitar and she always thinks to herself,
“one day, that’s got to be me.”
Although Admire sang in her church choir and played the French horn in school,
she would love to be more musical. Both of Admire’s parents are musicians; her
father plays the guitar and her mother the piano. She hopes in the near future to
finally learn to play the guitar she purchased a few years ago.
Among her academics, athletics and other activities Admire still made time to
compete in three pageants between the ages of 13 and 18. At 18 she competed
for Miss Illinois but felt she lacked the maturity many of her competitors possessed.
With all her accomplishments and personal growth since her last pageant, Admire
feels better qualified for such a title and competed in Miss California 2011 as Miss
Monterey Bay.
She has enjoyed every moment of her participation and appreciates all the
networks created and support received. Regardless of the Miss California results,
Admire looks forward to her future traveling and furthering her career.