Ashley Bourdeau is a Johnson State College senior majoring in psychology. She’ll be vying for the title of Miss Vermont April 26. Her long-term goal is going to graduate JSC with a counseling degree. She wants to work with families and children who are struggling to with day-to-day difficulties.

If you had to choose between beauty and brains what would you choose?
Brains! Brains, definitely. Beauty is just an outward appearance. How you look has nothing to do with how you are as a person. You could be the most attractive person on the planet but not the nicest and you just overall might be – I don’t want to say an ugly person on the inside – but you’re physical self does not reflect your inner self. So any day I would rather have brains!

Some people say brains and beauty don’t mix. What do you say about that?
This is where it is important to keep in mind that I am competing for Miss Vermont which is through the Miss America organization. There are many different types of pageants but the two primary are the Miss America and Miss USA. Miss USA is more of a beauty pageant where it tends to be more about how you look in a bikini or how you look in evening wear while the Miss America organization is about scholarships. It is about how you are academically, it is about what your platform is and well you how you can advocate for it and speak publically. Though it is somewhat a beauty pageant, it more so about your willingness to learn and drive for education.

What is your platform?
My platform is raising awareness for Type 1 diabetes. I have three younger brothers and the youngest, who is currently 10, was diagnosed on February 25 of 2010. It really changed not only his life but my entire family’s. Ever since, we’ve been participating in the annual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure. Also, my mom and I are both Zumba instructors and we also hold Zumbathons to raise money for the research.

What is the biggest change your brother’s diabetes brought to you?
For myself, it was more of an eye-opener than anything to realize anything can happen to anyone. Type 1 diabetes is not something you can get from eating too much sugar or anything like that; it’s something that you’re born with. My family has always been really close, but it brought us even closer. It’s also given us a whole new community of people to reach out to and become a part of each year at the walk and Zumbathons. We get to meet people who’ve had the same experiences and connected with them.

What would winning the title of Miss Vermont do for your platform of raising awareness about Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes?
What I would do with this platform is go into schools to discuss with children Type 1 diabetes. I know that when my brother was first diagnosed a lot of kids had no clue what it was. When they heard diabetes they said, “My grandpa or grandma has that” but they didn’t understand that children can have it as well. They thought it was contagious and they thought that it was because he ate bad food or didn’t exercise. They didn’t know there was a difference between Type 1 and Type 2.  Juvenile diabetes has no known cause. My mother, brother, and I would go into his classroom each year and we’d read a book and discuss with the class about his experience. We’d talk about how sometimes he’d have to leave the classroom because his blood sugar is too high or too low. I would also like to get community involvement at the walks and through my Zumbathon.

If this wasn’t Miss Vermont, but the president candidacy, what are the top two things you’d change?
I honestly don’t think I would go president candidacy because that’s a field I don’t want to get myself into. If you’re asking what I would like to see changed in the world, that’s a tough question – just two? One thing I would definitely work on is finding healthy alternatives to medicating children. We live in a time where there’s a diagnoses for everything and I feel like sometimes doctors and families are sometimes a little too quick to jump to diagnosing. I’m not saying they are wrong, but I think that these things could be looked into a little further before we medicate children. From working in schools and with the population in general I often see young kids that are medicated – as young as 6 or 7. They’re young and already diagnosed with four different things and are on eight different medications. Sometimes that’s not the best answer…
Another thing I would like to work on is raising awareness about other things that kids may be going through like allergies, diabetes, and ADHD. Everyone’s different and everyone has things they go through and I think that this could be explained a little better at school. It could help cut back on bullying.

Were you bullied growing up?
Not too much. I really loved school, and I tended to get picked on a bit with people calling me a nerd. In high school I did musical theatre and that was my passion. Sometimes you get picked on about things like that, but those are the times when you have to stay strong. If you’re passionate about something and it makes you happy, that’s all that matters.

What do you go through to be in this contest?
There are certain requirements, but they’re not too strict. For the Miss pageant you must be between the ages of 17 and 24, you can have never been married or pregnant. You must be in school or want to go to school – it’s a scholarship organization and you are ultimately winning money for college. There’s no application to be accepted, anyone who wants to enter can enter. But there is a lot of paperwork, and you must have a platform and a talent. You have to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. In Vermont that’s hospital is Fletcher Allen Health Carebe fundraising with  a Zumbathon  at Johnson State College on March 10. It’s more personal preparation than anything such as getting ready for interviews, being able to speak on stage in front of an audience and being able to perform on stage. It really comes down to just being as professional and true to yourself as you can be.

What’s your talent?
It’s going to be singing… we’ve been tossing around some ideas for what song but we’re stumped. So we’re still determining what I will be singing.

There are some who may say this contest objectifies women. What do you think?
This is something that comes up often with pageants, particularly regarding the swimsuit portion. In regards to the Miss America organization, the reason for the swimsuit competition is not so much for the beauty aspect, how thin you are, or how you look in a bikini. It has tradition going back to 1921 to when the pageant first came to be, but primarily it is to show you can hold yourself with confidence. You don’t necessarily have to be a size 0 as long as you can hold yourself with confidence and be able to say, “I’m beautiful how I am.”

Do you think somebody who’s a size 22 could win?
Of course! For Miss America and some other pageants they are not looking for what dress size you wear. They are looking for how you advocate what you’re passionate about, your talents, and how you represent yourself in public. It’s nothing to do with what size dress you wear, it’s about how you present yourself in a personal or professional manner.

The swimsuit section, and tradition aside, it’s still putting women up there and having their bodies rated. As a psychologist do you worry that this could perpetuate the objectifying of women at all?
I’ve even wondered, in the beginning, how I felt about that. I was a little leery at first, too, but I spoke to my friends who had been in pageants before and they said most women have that initial reaction. She said something that I thought was really important – that you have to know you are not putting your body up there for judgment by others, but that you are able to hold your body with confidence. I can definitely see how other individuals may look at this and think, “Wow, she’s really putting herself out there.” It takes a lot of mental preparation. The judges are not really looking to see how you look in a bikini but if you can hold yourself with confidence in a situation that is awkward and uncomfortable.

What have you personally gained?
This is my first year competing and keep in mind I’ve only decided to compete 3-4 weeks ago. The pageant last year was in June, so I thought I had six months to go, but I found out it’s actually April 26. Though I’ve only been preparing for a few weeks, I feel like I have learned a lot about myself. I’ve always been comfortable with myself but I’ve learned I have more confidence than I thought- what a gift! But I’m really excited for the experience, even if I don’t win. I’m in for it to meet other girls with similar interests.

Have you met any of the other contestants?
I have not yet – I know who some of them are but we have not yet met in person. We’re going to have a meeting at the end of March.

Are you nervous you’re going to meet some divas?
You’re going to have people of all personalities no matter where you go, whether it’s in a pageant setting or not. I’m really not going into it wondering if the other girls are out to get me. I’m looking at it as these are all young women who are here to advocate something they feel strongly about and they are here because they think can represent the state well.

Do you think competing in pageants puts wedges between women?
I feel like the reason some women tend to be viewed as catty or as divas is because sometimes we’re too driven on the point that it’s a competition. Yes, you’re competing for a title, but the Miss Vermont organization is striving to represent the best women of Vermont, people who can connect with others in a positive way and present themselves in a positive manner. It’s important to keep in mind that you’re not there to make enemies or judge other women. You are there to advocate for yourself but also advocate for the other women there. Even if someone else wins you are there to support strong women from Vermont.

What obligations are there for the person who wins the title?
You have to go to the Miss America competition which is in September of this year. You have the obligation of keeping to your platform and making appearances within your state. You may be asked to listen in at the statehouse or sing the national anthem at a baseball game. Your obligation is to really play an active role in Vermont communities and Vermont culture. You’re there for Vermont. You’re not only there to represent what you stand for, but what the state as a whole stands for.

What does Vermont stand for?
Vermont is the only state that has never placed in the top 15 contestants. It is time to show to the world that although we are a small state that people forget about … we have great people and strong community connection. We may be a small state and may be considered an underdog in the Miss America organization but we have potential!