'Amazing' beauties
ALUMNI & FRIENDS | Emily Drake is no stranger to beauty pageants. As the 2015 Miss Delaware United States, she has felt the pressure, endured the scrutiny and accepted the vulnerability that comes with putting herself out there to be judged.
But as she watched a documentary on the National Miss Amazing Pageant—the nation’s premier “beauty contest” for girls with disabilities—Drake, AS10, knew it was time to take her success as a contestant and pay it forward. She reached out to national organizers and committed herself to putting together a competition for Delaware.
“I wanted to bring the same opportunity that I had to these girls,” she says.
In 2015, the 27-year-old Hockessin, Delaware, resident succeeded in staging the first-ever Delaware Miss Amazing Pageant, which crowned queens in four age groups. On May 21, the second annual Delaware pageant will be held at the Independence School in Newark.
Unlike bigger pageants, the focus at Miss Amazing isn’t so clearly fixed on physical beauty—though contestants are praised for (and clearly proud of) their regal attire. “It’s a day when they get to feel entirely special and it’s all about them,” says Drake. “Unfortunately, in the world of disabilities, that doesn’t happen as often as we’d like.”
As each contestant takes the stage, and the looks of pride fill their faces, the pageant’s true purpose becomes clear, she says. It’s a way to expand these girls’ potential, enhance their sense of worth—and encourage society to be more inclusive of people with special needs.
“It has definitely built up her confidence,” says Michelle Taylor, mother of 2015 Miss Amazing contestant Jordan Taylor. “Just the look on her face when she won—she was surprised, but very happy.”
In the coming months, Drake hopes to expand the pageant’s connections to UD. In the physical therapy department, faculty and staff are exploring a possible partnership between Miss Amazing and UD’s efforts to develop more functional, comfortable clothing for children with disabilities.
