Curls set with hairspray. A carefully-chosen outfit. The world falling silent under the spotlight’s glare. For three Lynbrook students, pageantry means more than crowns and competition, but rather a journey of self-discovery and confidence.
Lily Yang struts with confidence
For junior Lily Yang, beauty pageants are an opportunity for improvement. Despite having little experience stepping into her first pageant, Yang managed to build both her skills and her confidence in public speaking during the 2025 Miss Sing Tao competition as the January Sing Tao Covergirl.
Yang began competing in pageants after she was inspired by watching her friends’ pageant performances. Initially hesitant, Yang eventually warmed up to the idea with encouragement from her parents and dance teacher.
“I think my parents are the most supportive people,” Yang said. “Whenever I’m doing something, they’re always on the side. Especially during the pageant, I’ll be walking down the stage, and I could just hear them screaming.”
Yang’s modeling runway wasn’t completely unobstructed. While competing, she faced the challenge of building public speaking skills, especially in giving impromptu speeches on stage. Through dedicated practice, she overcame this challenge and built her self-confidence.
“It was nerve-racking to be on stage and give on-the-go speeches to everyone,” Yang said. “ I did a lot of practicing, facing the walls and the mirrors. Right before we went on stage, I was super nervous.”
With a wide variety of competitors from ages 16 to college graduates, the beauty pageant serves as an opportunity for Yang to meet new people.
“I enjoyed getting to know their stories, how they progressed and what they want to do with their futures,” Yang said.
Shannon Zhang stitches skills
Junior Shannon Zhang joined the competition to establish her own self-trust and identity. Earning the title of 2025 June Sing Tao Covergirl, Zhang loves pageantry for its ability to force someone to recognize and accept themselves, complete with the good and the bad.
“Pageantry is about confidence and finding yourself, embracing not just your appearance, but also the way you carry yourself, your tone of voice and your speech,” Zhang said. “It really makes it a comfortable truth that you are yourself. You have to face yourself head on.”
Zhang began learning pageantry when she entered high school. Stepping into a new environment, Zhang wanted to grow her confidence At first she was excited — and nervous. But with plenty of support from those around her, she eventually competed in her first beauty pageant.
“Through this experience, I believe she developed stronger self-confidence and became more comfortable presenting herself on stage,” Zhang’s pageant coach Crystal Lee said.
For the June Sing Tao Covergirl, Zhang competed in multiple categories, including a design category that required her to design her own dress.
“I’ve always been kind of shy throughout elementary and middle school, and I wanted to leave my comfort zone,” Zhang said. “I thought of it less of a public appearance and more of an individual representation, because I really wasn’t confident in anything that I did, and the whole process just really inspired me to build myself.”
Despite having no design experience, Zhang created a gown complete with attached lights and circuit board patterns inspired by futuristic technology.
“The dress that I made myself was pretty fun, but I had to learn, because I’m not in any design clubs,” Zhang said. “I didn’t know how to generate this stuff. It was a new experience.”
Chelsea Li blooms in talent
Senior Chelsea Li never considered herself the type to compete in beauty pageants before sophomore year, perceiving them through social media as toxic and socially intimidating environments. Yet, when she signed up for Miss Teen Chinatown at her mother’s request, she never would have guessed that she would emerge with a trophy in hand and a new perspective on confidence and beauty.
“Beauty pageants aren’t about how pretty of a dress you wear or what sort of makeup you wear,” Li said. “Beauty goes deeper, as it’s more about how you present yourself and how you make others feel.”
Preparing was no small commitment. In addition to rehearsing a group K-Pop dance, the competition also included a talent showcase and a question-answer segment where a question was drawn from a pool of 20 prompts, which Li found particularly daunting as she only had a day in advance to prepare responses. Li shined the brightest in the talent portion, singing the Italian ballad “Santa Lucia.” She selected the song because of the joy it conveys, understanding emotion behind a song matters just as much as technical skill. Focusing on concrete actions like expanding her diaphragm or using her cheeks, she pushed past her nerves and earned the title of Miss Talent 2024.
“I was sweating under the lights while singing, but when they called my name and I got my trophy, I felt like it was all really worth it,” Li said. “I made so many great friends and broke out of my shell.”
Having enjoyed the experience immensely, Li joined another pageant: Miss Sing Tao, also hosted in San Francisco, where she performed a traditional Chinese Dunhuang dance. Her family and friends rallied for her every step of the way, helping her shop for dresses, motivating her and buying raffle tickets on the competition day. Once again,it was the sense of community among contestants that made the experience so worthwhile.
“I didn’t expect all the girls to be so supportive,” Li said. “The people I thought were stereotypically pretty are like me in many ways, each having their own insecurities and niche interests. It shattered any negative preconceptions I had about pageantry.”
