Pushing her luck

SENECA – Carissa Schumaker was only 16 when she competed and won her first pageant.

She was crowned Grundy County Fair Queen in 2008.

This year, Schumaker, a senior at Seneca High School competed in the National America Miss pageant in St. Charles where she ended in the top 20 out of 85 entrants.

“Grundy County was the first one I competed in,” she said. “I really liked meeting the girls.”

She said there are numerous reasons she enjoys competing and she is happy with all she has learned.

“I’ve improved my public speaking skills,” she said. “I feel like I’ve grown from it.”

She said she has learned to be more outgoing thanks to the pageants.

“You have to think on your feet,” she said.

She said it was beginners luck during the Grundy County Fair that made her think she could compete in other pageants.

“I figured I had a chance since I won one,” Schumaker said.

She said she was hoping to win so she could use the money for college which she will be attending ahead of her class because she will be graduating in December – a semester early.

Her favorite aspect of the competition is the interview.

“Interview is the easiest,” she said. “You get a chance to talk to the judges and show who you really are. They can’t tell from you walking across a stage.”

She said her least favorite part of her pageant experience was giving a speech, which she was grateful she didn’t have to do at National Miss.

She said she has learned from each experience and puts it towards her next competition.
In November she will be competing in the Miss Teen Illinois USA pageant.

Her goals don’t just include pageants; Schumaker said she knows what she wants to do with her life.

“I want to work with families affected by domestic violence,” she said. “I want to help domestic abuse victims.”

She said she may even seek a law degree to use to aid them.

She said her passion to help comes from being a survivor.

“I feel it is my duty to help others in the same situation I was in,” she said.