Pageant News Bureau - Autumn Marisa

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u

Miss Pennsylvania

We'd like to report that Autumn Marisa got her first name because autumn is the season of Miss America. Unfortunately, it isn't true. But we can tell you on the best authority that she has been interested in the pageant for most of her life.

When she was in the second grade, she visited Atlantic City and saw the competition in person. She told her parents, "I could do that." And obviously she was right.

She isn't a pageant snob, but since she began competing, she has never strayed from the Miss America system. She won the Miss Pennsylvania crown on her fourth try. Looking back over the years, she can't help thinking it was all "meant to be."

Ms. Marisa comes from a sports-minded family. Her father, Rudy, is a veteran college basketball coach. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in broadcasting, and now she's involved in sports media.

Some pageant contestants just pick up "a talent" because they need one to compete. But Ms. Marisa was captain of the dance team at Penn State, and she gets fire in her voice when she talks about the lyrical dance she does in the competition.

"It's very emotional," she says. "There's a lot of expression. You get to play a character through your emotions, actions, movements." Viewers who usually get a sandwich when the talent competition comes on should stay in their seats for her performance.

Ms. Marisa made a childhood wish, and it came true. Now she works with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants the requests of children who have life-threatening illnesses. Through her sports and media connections, she has gotten the National Football League involved. Some young people get the thrill of their lives when they meet their favorite football players. Or coaches. Or cheerleaders.

And meeting Autumn Marisa is a thrill in itself.

Photos courtesy of Victoria Carter

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