Shelby Sun Times, by Mark Ali
Thursday, October 23, 2008

A local teen will represent Germantown in next year's Miss Outstanding Tennessee Teen competition.

Rupa Vachaspati, a 16-year-old Germantown resident, was crowned 2009 Miss Teen Memphis during the 62nd annual Miss Memphis Scholarship Pageant, held Oct. 11 at St. Mary's Episcopal School. She advances to compete in the statewide pageant in March.

"I am thrilled, Vachaspati said. "This is something I've wanted to do for a long time and it was surprising because most of the girls have a lot of experience."

Vachaspati is a junior at Lausanne Collegiate School, and this was her first time competing in a pageant. To prepare, Vachaspati focused on the talent portion of the competition, for which she performed a traditional Indian-fusion dance to the music of "Dola Re Dola."

She also rehearsed interview questions with her mother, Neena, and studied tapes of various pageants. Vachaspati said she wanted to be prepared, but not overly prepared as to seem unnatural in front of the judges.

"The hardest part was answering questions intelligently, but still sounding like a kid. That was difficult to balance," Vachaspati said. "The most rewarding aspect was meeting all the other girls. Even though it was a competition, I formed some great friendships and we all support each other."

Vachaspati said this experience has taught her to have great pride in her culture and heritage. Although six months away, to prepare for the Miss Outstanding Tennessee Teen competition in March, Vachaspati plans to work even harder and begin browsing through new outfits now.

"These pageants are not just about looking beautiful anymore," said Shay Bader-Wallace, pageant executive director. "They give these girls a chance to perform what they love, whether it is singing or dancing or any other talent."

Additionally, Cyrena Wages, 17, was crowned Miss Memphis 2009 and will compete in the Miss Tennessee Pageant in June. Wages is currently a senior at Briarcrest Christian School.

The Miss Memphis Scholarship Pageant is part of the Miss America organization.