Bridgewater-Raritan Grad Competes to be Miss New Jersey

Becoming a pageant contestant was never one of Raritan resident Casey Randazzo’s lifelong goals.

But after receiving a letter and application for the Miss New Jersey 2011 Pageant in the mail, she began to set new sights for her future. 

Randazzo competed last weekend for the crown of Miss New Jersey 2011 at the Hilton Parsippany Hotel.

Although she wasn’t given the opportunity to compete as a semifinalist, Randazzo said she is grateful for the experience that she otherwise might not have had.

Randazzo said if she hadn't received the application in the mail, she would not have even entertained the idea. The appeal, she said, was in the rewards that could come out it—having a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a possible college scholarship was more than enough to stir her motivation.

“I’ve never seen myself competing in a pageant, but I saw this as a challenge and I wanted to challenge myself,” she said. 

The prospect of earning a college scholarship was especially appealing to Randazzo, as she hopes to soon transfer to a four-year college. She currently attends Raritan Valley Community College, where she studies communications.

Her interest in that field flourished, Randazzo said, when she was a student at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. There, she was involved in the school’s television network, “BRTV” or Bridgewater Raritan TV. 

To her surprise, Randazzo said, she learned that both hosts of the Miss New Jersey Pageant had backgrounds in broadcast journalism. 

“One of the hosts is a news anchor and the other one was a former anchor,” she said. "I was making connections with the people around me. A lot of the girls competing were also communications majors.”

Despite these connections with other competitors, Randazzo said there are positive and negative effects of competing.

“I definitely learned self-control,” she said. “I heard a lot of the girls talking about each other, and, although it may be hard to resist, I tried not to take [this experience] too seriously, and never spoke badly about anyone."

Randazzo said she believes that other girls wishing to compete need to have a positive and light-hearted attitude going into the competition. 

“Some girls could take this pageant too seriously and become very hard on themselves,” she said. “The outcome and the experience you have is based on your attitude. I kept it in my mind that I would do my best and just have fun.”