The feeling of looking beautiful, the glow of the spotlight, the hopeful crowning at the end of it all. Oh yeah, it’s that time of the year again: pageant season. Not everyone gets to feel the crown being placed upon their head and a bouquet of flowers in her arms, though. However, Junior K. Lee Graham has experienced these feelings more than once.

Graham was the winner of the Miss Chapin pageant in 2013, but didn’t stop there. She decided to participate in the Miss South Carolina Teen USA pageant and won.

“I was in shock, but so excited. I have been working for the goal for two years making my campaign, which is to ‘live beautifully’ and getting in shape so it was amazing to see all of my hard work pay off,” Graham said about winning the pageant.

Not many people realize the hard work and dedication it took for her to reach this point in pageant career.
“It was a lot of hard work; I had to win a certain pageant and the one that I won was Miss Lake Murray Teen USA. I also had to get in shape mentally,” Graham said.
As Miss South Carolina Teen USA she participates in a lot of different events, promotes her ‘live beautifully’ campaign (which is based on getting girls to live beautifully in the skin that they’re in and being comfortable with themselves), and speaks at a lot of different schools and other events that she is invited to.
Graham has faced negative views on pageants, as well with people who view them as nothing but a beauty contest. Her view on pageants, though, is quite different.
“Pageants are fun to dress up in, but I like having a voice and having an influence that I wouldn’t normally have. It gives me a platform to speak out about things I’m passionate about that I wouldn’t normally have,” said Graham.
Miss Chapin is right around the corner and Graham will be there, not as a participant, but to crown the next winner.
“It’s very bitter-sweet. Miss Chapin has been really important helping me build my campaign and making me who I am, but I am excited to see how the next Miss Chapin will represent our school and bring something new,” she said about the future crowing.

For the girls participating in Miss Chapin this year Graham has this advice: “Really enjoy the weekend and get to really know other girls in the pageant. It’s a great way to meet new people. Also, use it as a way to be a representative for CHS.”
Although not everyone participates and not everyone wins, pageant season is an interesting time for all. As K. Lee Graham has expressed, pageants are not just a beauty contest, but an opportunity to share views and passion with others. For example, Miss Chapin’s score is based 50% on her interview skills. Some of Graham’s best advice is to future Miss Chapin contestants to view the pageants as a way to meet people and they will be winners whether they are crowned or not.