Beauty Queens On Stage

What's it like to be on stage and do an evening gown walk?

It's kind of an out of body experience. I am a trained performer. I've been dancing since I was a little girl, so being onstage is nothing new to me. I'm very comfortable on stage, but because I was specifically going for a crown, it made the game a little different. It was just a feeling of energy and excitement and I was so grateful. So grateful just to be standing there and having my family there. You couldn't really see the audience because of the lights, but when you did see people, just to see them go, "Wow. Look at these young ladies." It's just exhilarating. It was wonderful.

What's it like to be on stage and do a bikini walk?

If you're not confident about who you are, I think it could be pretty frightening. But that weekend, I just said, "I'm winning." So I felt good. I said, "This is my body. This is all natural and I'm proud of it."So I was happy. I was excited. So I was like, "Yeah, this is fun."We don't get to walk around in our bikinis everyday, in heels. So I thought this would be a great time to do it. It was fun. I liked it. It was fun. I was very happy about my bikini, how I looked. So it was fun.

Is the interview portion nervewracking?

From the get-go, I told my family and I would tell my mom, the interview question on the top five, was the one thing I was worried about. Nothing else. I was so confident. I was just like, "Yeah, we'll have fun." But I kept bringing it up to my mom and my aunts. I'm like, "I'm so freaked out about the interview question. I'm not going to know what they're going to ask me!" They're like, "Relax, relax." That night I was so calm, as if I was just hanging out with my girlfriends. I was so calm that when I got the envelope to have them read it, I wasn't shaking. I wasn't trying to peek at the question. I wasn't trying to think in my head, "OK. What kinds of things will they ask? So calm.

How were you able to be so confident during the pageant?

Where does that come from? I guess from many things. I could say family. I could say friends. I could say my culture. But like I said, at the end of the day everyone is their own person. I grew up around very confident women, and I chose not to be confident. That is your decision. Or if I grew up around people who were never confident, but I wanted to be confident, it is my decision. So at the end of the day, it is how you want to live your life. As a matter of fact, I was always that young girl who was running around and wanting to dance and have people staring at me. As a little girl I just loved to stand out, and wear weird things, and sort of be opinionated and strong minded.

What did the crowning moment feel like when you won Miss California?

So emotional if you look at the footage I had to hold Brandi Williams who was the first runner up. Before they even announced the winner I told her hold me I'm about to faint and she has said that in other interviews because I said hold me I'm about to faint. She's looking out into the audience and I turned away from the audience in sort of a side angle and I literally grab her and go please hold me right now because I'm going to faint. So our hearts are beating out of our chests we're both looking at each other in each others eyes. I'm crying though already she's not crying so I'm already crying not knowing what the outcome is going to be and when they said Miss Woodland Hills all I could do was go down and just shake and start crying and I knew I won and just get emotional. And like I said If you look at the footage I just keep saying thank, you thank you, and I'm looking at my family who was on the mistiming and I'm saying thank you. It was a proud moment not just for me but I think my family. I think all the hard work that my ancestors put into being who we are and my faith in god like all of that I felt was there. Like alright Christina this is what life is about you got it girl so emotional amazing.