SILVERDALE — It’s viva Las Vegas for Miss Washington Kristen Eddings as she prepares for the Miss America stage.
The Silverdale native jetted this week to the desert city, joining 51 Miss America hopefuls. In the weeks leading up to her departure, Eddings prepared herself for what will be her largest competition to date.
“My anxiety has increased because I know that my mind always needs to be focused on preparation,” she said in an interview earlier this month.
For Eddings, however, her focus isn’t so much on herself, but rather on her platform of international education.
“I’m excited, but I’m anxious,” said Eddings, a 2002 Klahowya Secondary School grad.
Eddings is the only contestant in the competition with a global platform, but she says it’s one that seemed to have been waiting for her.
“The great thing is my platform doesn’t marginalize anyone, and it could potentially affect everyone,” she said.
To prepare for the interview portion of the competition, Eddings participated in three mock interviews before leaving for Nevada. An avid singer, she recently worked with a gospel singer to jazz up her talent number — a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “For Once in My Life” which she also performed during the Miss Washington Pageant.
“We’ve spiced it up a little … I want the crowd to go crazy,” Eddings said, smiling. “I look forward to it, I really like singing. This will be the largest crowd I’ve ever sang in front of.”
While in Las Vegas, Eddings will room with Miss Delaware Jamie Ginn. With each day leading up to the main event filled with preliminaries, rehearsals and some appearances, Eddings said taking a break might be easier said then done.
“What little down time I have I will take that opportunity to be down,” she said.
It’s been an exciting year for Eddings, a 2006 Seattle Pacific University grad. She was crowned Miss Kitsap in March 2006 and went on to win the state title four months later. It was her second trip to the Miss Washington competition; her first appearance was in 2002, after being crowned Miss Poulsbo, in which she placed in the Top 10. Her win at Miss Washington was a significant milestone for Kitsap County as she was the first Miss Kitsap to take home the crown since 1959. Her journey as Miss Washington has taken her near and far with travels to California, Texas, Florida and even India. She has continued to spread awareness on the issue of international education.
As for the Miss America competition, Eddings’ said she feels her faith is evident when she talks about the event’s impending outcome.
“My whole perspective is this has already been decided, if it’s going to happen for me it will happen,” she said. “I will either be Miss America or I will be Miss Washington, either way I’ll have an awesome job. I don’t lose in this process.”
