Banning High Senior Shares Glimpses of Miss California Teen USA 2012 Contest

A Banning High senior, cheerleader, and softball standout who competed in the Miss California Teen 2012 contest this month recently shared details of her experience, and talked about challenges she's taking on this spring.

Jesicah Lara, 17, elected Broncos Homecoming Queen in October, took part Jan. 6-7 in the 2012 Miss California Teen USA Competition at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert.

Jesicah is more than a pretty face and an athlete. She is Banning's Associated Student Body President, and she says she plans to study biology or psychology at the university level so she can work with children in the fields of medicine or counseling.

Jesicah shared her perspective about the Miss California Teen USA contest first in Facebook messages to Banning-Beaumont Patch, and she confirmed details in an in-person interview Monday in Banning.

"I woke up Friday morning (Jan. 6) at 3 a.m. to do my hair and makeup to be ready for my interview and check in at the hotel by 6 a.m.," Jesicah said.

"It didn't hit me that I was in the pageant until I was walking down the stairs into the McCallum Theatre, with one of my new best friends Alexses, and I opened the door to the dressing room and said 'Wow, I'm really here.'

"It felt unreal, I was excited for the weekend," she said. "I immediately went into interview - alone with 7 judges. It was 30 seconds to a minute, to show personality.

"I was #5, which was really cool because I always got my food first, haha. The interview went way better than anything I had ever imagined. We talked about my favorite subject, sports. I told them about my cheer team, my brothers (Ethan Jr., 16, and Alex, 18 - Ethan is a junior at Banning High, Alex graduated from Banning and is now at UC-Davis), and how sports has changed me as a person."

Asked to expand on this Monday, Jesicah said, "I pretty much started sports when I could walk, running around the house. I started T-ball when I was 5, and I started cheer when I was 7.

"Then I joined softball . . . it didn't really hit me until I was in 8th grade and in high school, how much sports were beneficial to me. When I hit high school I learned how it is to be part of a team. My junior year I learned how it is to be on a team I call my family. When we won nationals, , we weren't just a team, we were one.

"We all got along together and that moment in Vegas when we won that it was like - I love it," Jesicah said.

"Being in sports has taught me to be on time and how to listen, and to respond when people ask me to do things. And because I'm a captain, it's helped me be a leader, be the person I am today, and be an example."

In her interview with the contest judges, Jesicah said, "I was able to let my personality come out in my answers, I had the whole room laughing when I said, 'My favorite cheer movie is Fired Up because 'Bring It On' sucks.'

"After interview I went into rehearsal - for the opening number, the bathing suit dance, on-stage and off-stage cues, the dressing room, coordinating with house moms and house dads - and we rehearsed all day!

"I have never been so tired in my entire life," Jesicah said. "My body was slowly shutting down and I tried so hard not to fall asleep.

"Thank goodness I had met some of the best girls I have ever met in my life: Alexses (Miss LA Live Teen), Chelsie (Miss French Valley Teen), Victoria (Miss Crystal Cove Teen), and Shay (Miss Ontario Teen). We kept each other up and laughing throughout the whole weekend.

"Saturday morning (Jan. 7)  I woke up at 4 to get ready to leave the hotel to go the theatre. We rehearsed until 12 (noon), ate lunch, then rushed into the dressing room to get ready for prelims. There were about 118 of us in the preliminaries.

"Finally it was showtime. There are really no words I could put together to describe the feeling I got while I was on stage. The only thing I could think of was 'You can do it Jes, you're here. Everyone at home is watching. Smile.'

"When I thought of everyone at home and the people who supported me I couldn't help but smile. I saw my dad (Ethan) in the crowd and this huge smile came across my face, it was truly the best feeling.

"When I did the evening gown portion I had to try so hard not to trip over my dress. I was so nervous. Ironically as soon as I stepped out of view - offstage - I fell. Haha. Luckily one of the girls was there to catch me.

"The special awards part was my favorite of the whole prelims, when they called my name I was so excited. I got to take a picture with the beautiful Alyssa Campanella."

Jesicah won a social media award in which she recieved hundreds of votes on Facebook and Twitter.

"I got the award thanks to all of my family and friends who voted . . . It is because of them that I won. And in the end that is what I wanted because not only did I win the award but so did they. They were there for me through it all and they helped me when I asked for it.

"I thank them so much and I am so grateful to have an amazing support system," she said. "I love them all. I thought it was pretty funny because the girl who won the other award is the girl I became close friends with, Chelsie Keller.

"Overall the pageant was a learning experience, not just the weekend but from the time I got recruited until the day of the pageant. I had a lot of fun with the four girls I met, they were beautiful girls inside and out. We're planning on meeting up sometime soon."

Jesicah introduces herself on her "Jesicah Lara for Miss California Teen 2012" Facebook page:

"I am a senior at Banning High School, and I am also ASB president. I am a varsity Cheerleader and Softball player. I absolutely love to play all sports, I am a hardcore athlete."

Jesicah was named in June 2011. She was an All-Mountain Valley League selection the year before.

She is getting ready for more cheer competition in February, more softball this spring, and graduation in June. She's not sure where she will attend college or university yet, but she says she's ready to take on biology or psychology as her major.