Bellaire womanputs her all into mission to bemisstexas
In the next step on her quest to become Miss America, Niki Noblett hopes to bring the Miss Texas crown home to Bellaire.
“I’m a very, very determined girl,” said Noblett, 19, a 2013 graduate of Bellaire High School. “If I set my mind to something, I go for it like crazy.”
Noblett will compete as Miss Bryan/College Station, representing the area where she attends college as a nursing major at Texas A&M University. But she came home for the summer to train with local sponsors, such as Next Level Fitness, where she trains for the swimsuit competition.
“I work out every day,” Noblett said. “The swimsuit competition is not about looking at the other girl to see if I have abs like her. It’s about being fit and living a healthy lifestyle.
It’s not about looking great; it’s about feeling great.”
Noblett will compete in interview, lifestyle and fitness in swimsuit, talent and evening gown at the 79th annual Miss Texas Scholarship Pageant in Richardson. Fans can watch the finals by webcast on July 5 as judges select the Lone Star State’s representative to the 94 thannual Miss America competition in Atlantic City, New Jersey in September.
“For talent, I have chosen to sing ‘Let it Go’ from the movie ‘Frozen,’ ” Noblett said. “I sawthe movie with my family and it’s sucha great message about women’s empowerment, about relay being yourself and loving yourself completely.”
Last year, winning Miss Houston to advance to the state competition, Noblett sang another Idina Menzel tune, “Defying Gravity.”
“It went along with my platform, ‘Defying Disablity,’ ” Noblett said.
At age 13, she explained, she was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia.
“I didn’t let them hold meback. I decided, nomatter what, I would prove the doctors wrong,” Noblett said. “I’ve definitely improved, not onlywithread- ing, but also keeping my focus. I can easily remind myself. I retrained my brain. It’s all about practice.”
“Niki has done a wonderful job as Miss Bryan/ College Station,” said the pageant’s executive director, Duc Nguyen, a graduate of TexasA&M.
In particular, he noted how Noblett visited patients at Texas Children’s Hospital.
“The pageant has definitely influenced mewanting to becoming a pediatric nurse,” said Noblett, who is the daughter of a dentist, Dr. Sherry Noblett, and a computer engineer, Ronald Noblett.
Noblett said she “had an idea in head” for her evening gown.
“I went over it with my mom and gave it to Gaspar Cruz,” she said, referring to the Katy fashion design- er who created the winning gown for last year’s Miss America, Nina Davuluri of NewYork.
“He kind of took it from there,” Noblett said.
For more information about the state preliminary to Miss America, visit www.misstexas.org.