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Backstage Lessons

By Jensen Hart

(Click here for photogallery)
Posted: October 13, 2007

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We've all heard it: We're shallow, vein, selfish. We care more about what we look like when we hit the stage than about our families and friends. Our simulated pageant perfection is mirrored in our plastic, flipper-encased lives. We are inconsiderate.

If you have ever been in a pageant, been around a pageant, or even seen Drop Dead Gorgeous, you are well aware that pageants take a pretty hard hit from anyone who buys into stereotypes. I must admit, however, that I do not always blame these so called judgmental individuals. It would be false to say that I've never been backstage and seen a flat iron thrown at a parent who was anything less than compliant; or seen tears shed and spiteful threats uttered after a seemingly unfair crowning.

As I sit on my front porch during my summer home from college, these temper tantrums and near-brawls are not what are on my mind, not by a long shot. On the other hand, neither is poise, self confidence, or gaining the ability to speak in front of an audience. As someone who has competed locally and nationally, I have heard, just as I am sure all of you have heard, of these benefits of pageantry; hopefully you may have also been blessed enough to experience them for yourself. While these 'pageant perks' can be wonderful learning experiences, my personal experience has delved deeper than loosing gracefully, recovering from a fall (both physical and emotional), and the many alternative uses of Preparation H. What needs to be shared is the under-publicized character of selfless girls, in this case sisters, (or sister teams as I refer to below), who refuse to let avid competition interfere with undying support for family.

I am talking about are the sister teams of Jackie and Kailey Carroll, twins from Suwanee, GA and my younger sister Hollis and I, from Atlanta. Nonetheless, I like to think that these sentiments can be extended to sisters across the country.

When I was in the second grade I lost a game of chess to my younger brother, a year my junior. This epic match was followed by some three days of my wallowing in my own self pity. It seemed like my inadequacy was crashing down around me and I was helpless to repair it.

In 2005 and 2006 respectively, Hollis Hart and Kailey Carroll watched as their sisters Jensen and Jackie took home the Miss Georgia American Teen and Miss Georgia American Junior Teen crowns. Self pity was the last emotion seen on the stage as, immediately following crowning, the sisters shed tears of joy for the triumphs of their siblings, the genuine likes of which took me aback.

Over the course of the past several years, I have learned my biggest life lessons from growing up in the context of my family. I have learned that I do not have a sense of humor worth shooting, from my father; that Superwoman is not make believe, from my mother; to relax more often, from my brother; and, that humility is the most beautiful and genuine quality a person can have from my sister, as well as from Kailey Carroll.

Words struggle to express how these young girls, 14 and 13 at the time, rose to maturity well beyond their years to show that they truly have grasped what life is all about: Authentic love for one another; shared joy in triumph and shared tears in pain for those we love. I cannot thank these girls enough for this lesson, one that I learned as much when the cameras stop clicking, smiles were unglued, and the lights extinguished as I ever did trying to untangle my legs from a French turn or recover from making up my own vocabulary during an interview. I now know that in five years my sister's pageant success will far outdo my own and it is my genuine hope that I will have learned to be as elated for her as she has been for me, time and time again.

Jensen Hart was Miss Georgia American Teen 2005, Top 15 in Miss American Teen and Miss Georgia Teen International 2006-2007, Top 10 in Miss Teen International, in addition to local titles. She is a sophomore at Vanderbilt University, a Medicine, Health and Society and French double major and a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

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