A Talk on Beauty and Bullies
Nedra Rhone
Newsday (New York)
December 10, 2002
She grants that it may seem odd for Miss America, the very ideal of American
beauty, to have been victimized by school bullies. But in the next breath, Erika
Harold, Miss America 2003, reminds you that she wasn't always Miss America.
The 22-year-old, Harvard-bound native of Urbana, Ill., was once a ninth-grader
who learned that the multiracial heritage that made her different also made her
a target. "I recognize there are people every day who are made to be
apologetic for who they are," Harold said yesterday to an audience of
students at Commack High School. "I never forget what it was like to go to
school and feel that humiliation every day."
Harold fielded questions from students on topics ranging from her stance on
current events to what it's really like being Miss America.
There are the free clothes. There is the nonstop travel that sometimes gets
lonely. All the contestants are not your friends, especially the ones who try to
mess up your hair before the onstage question. And yes, even Miss America has
crushes - this one is on Justin Guarini from the Fox TV hit
"American Idol."
Then there is the $80,000 in scholarship money to cover Harvard tuition, where
Harold will major in public interest law and public policy and begin plotting
her path to the presidency.