Brynn Wilson, a sophomore at Cherry Hill High School East, will be heading to sunny Southern California in November, but it’s going to be a working vacation.
She’ll represent her hometown as the current NAM Jr. Teen, Miss Cherry Hill in the National All-American Miss pageant which is slated for Anaheim, Calif., from Nov. 26-Dec. 1.
“Nationals is actually the third pageant that I will be attending. I first competed in a pageant last summer, then I received a letter from National American Miss, saying that they were interested in me participating in their pageant,” Wilson said.
“I placed fourth in Miss Photogenic and then I came back this summer and I made top 10 for Miss New Jersey and I automatically won my city title, so I’m currently Miss Cherry Hill Junior Teen. Now I’m heading to nationals to compete in the National All-American Miss, Miss Talent and Miss Photogenic competitions.”
Wilson has two years to bring home the title in Junior Teen, before she moves up to regular Teen, which allows girls from 17 to 19 years old to participate. Regardless of age, bringing your best to the nationals requires a long period of preparation.
“I have been prepping since I wanna say, mid-August and I’m still going to, until probably the day before I actually leave for Anaheim. There are almost 150 girls competing for the national title. So, it’s a very highly prestigious title,” Wilson added.
Wilson is working with Believe Pageant Consulting – based in Oregon – and the young woman helping to coach her long distance is competing in the Miss Teen USA pageant and has won multiple NAM titles in the past.
“She’s been helping coach me on interview, walking and the personal introduction – which is what you do before the interview – you go up on stage and say a little bit about yourself in front of the judges and audience members,” Wilson explained.
Meanwhile, the first part of Wilson’s school year moves on. Her favorite subject is English, least favorite is math, but she clearly lives for the theater.
“Since I’ve been at East I have been in ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ ‘The Man Who Came to Dinner,’ I competed in the one-act film, I actually did two shows in that, and I also did Crimson Theater and I’m also in another show here, so that’s about six shows at East and I continue to do theater outside school. I’ve probably done 20, 25 shows because I’ve been doing it since I was 8 years old,” she said.
It’s not all about fulfillment within the school environment, though. Wilson additionally volunteers at Distributing Dignity, a local nonprofit that provides homeless women with basic necessities for living. She has since accompanied drop-offs to the indigent in both Camden and Philadelphia.
“It was started by a graduate of East. We give them bras, feminine products, everything like that because when women go into homeless shelters, they don’t supply them with those things and when they get out of the shelters, they’re able to get back on their feet,” she related.
On a more positive note, although the days spent in competition will require focus and concentration, Wilson is looking forward to bonding with her fellow contestants.
“Definitely meeting a bunch of girls from across the country. We are all in one space but we’re all family – even if you’re competing against each other, we fix each other’s crowns because that’s the motto.”
