Lover of the spotlight and all-things performance related, 16-year-old Oakton junior Ann Kutyna shines in the pageant world. Kutyna held the title of “Miss Teen Virginia” for the 2014-2015 year, and recently gave up her crown on Oct. 11. However, eight years ago, she never could have predicted she’d be where she is now.

Growing up, Kutyna was engaged in a variety of activities, including community service, Irish dancing, acting, and a bit of singing. When she was seven years old, Kutyna received an advertisement in the mail for a pageant. The advertisement said that the winner of the pageant will get a trip to Disney World, and that was what initially caught the 7-year-old’s attention. “I just wanted to go to Disney World,” said Kutyna.

At first, Kutyna’s mom was not too keen on the idea of her daughter competing in pageants. Kutyna describes her mother as “the sporty type”. However, this was more of a “natural” pageant than the ones you might see on the show “Toddlers and Tiaras”. The fact that this pageant had less extravagant makeup, hair and outfits involved made her mom willing to make the transition with her daughter into the pageant world.

For eight years, Kutyna competed in a pageant organization called “National American Miss”. She did not win any of the pageants in the first organization, but that only made her more determined to continue competing.

Kutyna’s favorite part about competing is being on stage. She said, “I also love that I get to work towards something. I set a goal for myself and I work hard to reach it.” In 2013, Kutyna began competing for Miss Teen Virginia, and won the pageant on her second attempt, in 2014.

According to Kutyna, her win in the Miss Teen Virginia 2014 pageant was a complete surprise. “I was so not on-point that night”, said Kutyna. During the pageant, her banner fell off and she slipped during the swimsuit competition. Kutyna was not expecting to win Miss Teen Virginia, but was beyond delighted when she did.

Kutyna had a very eventful year as Miss Teen Virginia. The Miss Teen USA organization puts an emphasis on volunteering, which Kutyna did a lot of during her reign. She worked with Best Buddies and went to the Best Buddies Prom. She also participated in the Polar Plunge at Virginia Beach in February 2015.

The year following her Miss Teen Virginia win also required dedication to train for the August 2015 Miss Teen USA pageant. “It was a lot of work,” said Kutyna. Kutyna had to stay on top of her figure constantly, and went to the gym with her brother almost every day.

Kutyna also worked with her brother to prepare for the pageant interviews. She did this by making sure she was aware of current issues facing teens. According to Kutyna, preparing answers for specific questions was not the way to go about preparing for the interviews. “The trick is to train yourself to think on your feet,” said Kutyna, “you have to be ready for anything.” Kutyna did not go through any formal training to prepare for the pageant; she did all the work on her own, with the help of her family.

Although Kutyna did not win Miss Teen USA, she did make good friends with girls from all over the country, and enjoyed herself at Atlantis in the Bahamas.

As for the future, Kutyna is thinking about competing in local pageants, but she hasn’t made a decision. “I just want to see where life takes me,” said Kutyna. Kutyna wants to go to college, and her dream school is Cornell University. Instead of majoring in something performance-related, Kutyna is thinking of branching out and studying something in the sciences.

After her experiences as Miss Teen Virginia, Kutyna has a different perspective on success. She said, “When people ask me if I’m sad that I didn’t win Miss Teen USA, it sounds cheesy, but I say that I felt like I had already won before the pageant. It’s all about the journey, not the destination. And I’m proud of how far I’ve come.”