Pageant titleholders balance spotlight and school responsibilities

From the flashing lights of pageant stages to studying in the I.D. Weeks Library, former Miss South Dakota Tessa Dee has undergone the transition of beauty queen to study queen for the second time.

After a year of traveling around the state promoting her title as Miss South Dakota, Dee has returned to the University of South Dakota for graduate school, looking to embrace more learning opportunities.

Dee graduated from USD in 2013 with a degree in health science and a minor in psychology. She made her first appearance in the pageant world just two years earlier.

“I started pageants on a complete whim,” Dee said. “I didn’t tell my friends or anything. It seemed like a fun thing to try.”

Dee first competed in the 2011 pageant Miss Siouxland held in Sioux Falls. Right away, she gleamed victorious, becoming Miss Rolling Plains and going on to compete in Miss South Dakota 2012.

There, she won the Rookie of the Year and was 3rd Runner Up.

Dee said success influenced her to compete the next year, where she won the pageant and became Miss Gold Rush 2013.
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 She then continued on her journey, as she and was named Miss South Dakota 2013.

After winning her title, Dee only had two months to prepare for the Miss America pageant. Preparations included shopping, and lots of it, to the point where she said she got sick of it.

“As Miss America came to a close, I really focused on my duties as Miss South Dakota,” Dee said.

Taking a year off before heading back to graduate school to fulfill these responsibilities was enlightening and necessary, she said.

Making more than 200 appearances and touring 100 schools, Dee promoted her platform Project Bookworm across South Dakota — something she continues to work on as a graduate student.

“Project Bookworm promotes children’s literacy by getting straight to the source in school and at home,” Dee said. “This is not only for the children but also for their parents, creating a special bond at home between each other.”

Through Project Bookworm, Build-a-Book workshops give children the ability to make their own story and share it at home.

Despite taking a year off between her undergraduate and graduate schooling, Dee said she wasn’t phased in the slightest coming back.

“I love Vermillion and the campus,” she said. “Everyone here has really made my return rewarding.”

Transitioning from her Miss South Dakota agenda to one of a student, she said her schedule is more plausible and easier to follow than her pageant schedules.

“I know what is going to happen each day with a schedule I can look at in front of me,” she said.

Originally planning to go to graduate school for physical therapy, Dee said her time as Miss South Dakota changed her career direction.

“Miss South Dakota has been really great in helping me decide what I want to do, which is why I am here in communication studies,” Dee said.

Taking part in summer leadership camps at USD, Dee said she is still trying to influence others positively through public speaking.

Other crown holders

Junior Carrie Wintle has also claimed a pageant crown during her time at USD. Wintle is on the road to becoming the next Miss South Dakota after being crowned Miss Rolling Plains this past July.

Unlike Dee, transitioning back to school this fall has been a bit tougher for Wintle.

“It has been a little more difficult this year,” Wintle said. “I am busy preparing for Miss South Dakota.”

Handling school and dance team practice has proven to be a challenge, Wintle said. But it serves a dual purpose as it also pushes her to be “10 times better than the year before.”

Senior Rayna Pearson earned a title as Miss Sioux Falls this past July.

Also getting ready for the Miss South Dakota pageant, Pearson said she has kept busy this school year.

“It’s been tough, no doubt, as it serves as another activity,” Pearson said. “I have to make time to work out, work on my platform and juggle all this school work.”

The two women will compete for the Miss South Dakota title in June 2015.

(Tessa Dee, former Miss South Dakota, is a graduate student at the University of South Dakota obtaining her Communication degree. Maggie Malathip|The Volante)