Before last September, Andre’ El Brown had never entered a beauty pageant.
Today, Brown, who holds the title of Miss Southwest Mississippi Community College, is on her way to Vicksburg to prepare for a week of preliminary competitions in the Miss Mississippi Pageant.
Brown, 19, is the daughter of Dennis and Marchetta Brown of Summit.
She and other contestants from across the state will be arriving at the Vicksburg Convention Center this evening to check in.
The winner of the Miss Mississippi pageant will move on to the Miss America Pageant.
Brown isn’t letting her lack of pageant experience get in her way. She’s confident about the competition, but she’s more excited about representing the Pike County area than who wins.
“I would be proud to represent Mississippi in the national pageant but I’m definitely more enthusiastic about representing southwest Mississippi,” she said.
“I’m confident and enthusiastic. I’m looking forward to (this) week and meeting new people.”
Brown entered SMCC’s Parade of Beauties in September and won Most Beautiful. And in November, she won the Miss Southwest Mississippi Community College title, which is a preliminary to the Miss Mississippi pageant.
In the week ahead she has four classes of competition — talent, swimwear, on-stage question and a panel interview.
Brown’s talent at the state pageant will be a lyrical dance. She took dance lessons at Main Street Dance Company of McComb, which is where she also developed a love of teaching, and where she now teaches.
She also volunteers and teaches dance at the Boys & Girls Club of Southwest Mississippi in McComb and enjoys the kids’ enthusiasm.
“I love teaching at the Boys & Girls Club. They are all very sweet and love dancing,” Brown said.
Brown is sophomore at SMCC and plans to transfer to a four-year college for dance studies.
“I’m looking for a university with a good dance program,” she said.
“I want to be a choreographer and open my own studio,” she said. “I love teaching dance.”
An interesting side-note is that Brown graduated a year early in May 2010 from North Pike High School, where she was on the dance line.
She was able to finishing all of her high school course requirements in the second semester of her junior year.
