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Best behaviorJillian Parry, "Jill" to her friends, has been in community theater since she was 4 years old. She has performed in the chorus of such musicals as "The King and I," "Bye, Bye Birdie" and "The Music Man." She likes being onstage. |
| She tried modeling for a time, but while it was fun at first, "it seemed a little too competitive. I didn't want to live that lifestyle." She dropped it. Then she got into pageants, and she hasn't been disappointed yet. She won the very first time she tried, becoming Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA. Now she's in a national pageant on national television.
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| She seems born for the limelight, but her life offstage has little to do with the glamour of theater, modeling and pageants. She's aiming for work in the field of biobehavioral health. It's the field where the sciences of genetics, biology and psychology merge. (Come to think of it, maybe that does have something to do with pageants.) |
Ms. Parry has done a lot of good for many people she will never know. She and her family have raised guide dogs for the blind, giving the animals "basic training" before sending them to be prepared for their careers. "Every dog has its own personality," she said, "and you hate to see them go." | 
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| We asked her for a really quick bit of behavioral science. "Males are more aggressive," she said. Spoken like a girl who has more experience raising dogs than competing in pageants. Photos courtesy of Miss Universe L.P., LLLP |
Right at homeNina Moch had the shortest distance to travel to the Miss Teen USA Pageant. "I could have walked if I'd wanted to," she said. She's from Shreveport. And, of course, she's Miss Louisiana Teen USA. Ms. Moch is the "baby girl" in an unusually large family, and that has lots of advantages, she says, especially in December. "Christmas is wonderful!" But August in Shreveport can be very exciting, too.
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 | In high school, she was active in track-and-field and gymnastics, and most of all, cheerleading. "I've been cheering since I was able to walk," she says. She plans to continue that activity in college. Because she's both smart and good-looking, Ms. Moch faces an unusual dilemma. She would like to be a country music star, like Shania Twain or Dolly Parton. But, she adds, "I don't want to waste my brains." So she may leave glamour behind and become an organic environmental chemist. Either way, she has a lot of chemistry as far as we're concerned. |
| Please forgive us, but we almost forgot to tell you what you absolutely must know about Nina Moch: How to pronounce her last name. Take the first letter away from "smoke," and you've got it.
Photos courtesy of Miss Universe L.P., LLLP |  |
South Carolina sunshine"You've got to talk to the girl from South Carolina," a bubbly blond lady told a PNB reporter. |
| "Is she a relative of yours?" the reporter asked. "No," said the woman. "I don't know her. I can't even think of her name. But she's beautiful." For the record, the name of Miss South Carolina Teen USA is Morgan Smith, which is not really that hard to remember. And the bubbly lady was right. Ms. Smith looks delightful. South Carolina is pageant country, and the easygoing Ms. Smith seems made for the place.
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 | When she modestly mentions her former titles -- "Lexington County Peach Queen . . . Miss Lexington Sunfest" -- you can almost see the fruit ripening on a mellow summer afternoon. You're in a daydream where you want to lie down and sip a cool drink. Ah, but don't mistake daydreams for reality. |
| Despite the myth, there's nothing lazy about a Southern beauty queen, and Ms. Smith has more energy than an Atlantic storm. "I work in a gym," she says. "I'm a personal trainer, and I've got to keep my own body in the very best shape." For all her agility, she fell off the stage at Miss South Carolina Teen USA, her most embarrassing moment in pageants. "It hurt my pride," she said of the tumble. If it bruised her anywhere else, she doesn't say, but it obviously didn't hurt her chances. Ms. Smith is the only beauty queen we've met who has worked at a credit bureau. She knows what some people are worth. We think she looks priceless. | 
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Connecticut charmIn the 1930s, actor Monty Woolley coined a new word when he exclaimed, "It's de-lovely!" Some accounts say Woolley had just seen the sun rise over the Rio harbor. Some say he had just been served a tasty melon for breakfast. In any case, songwriter Cole Porter was on hand to hear the remark, and he turned it into a classic song. |
 | The great Porter is long gone, so we don't expect a song to emerge from our scribblings. But we can still exclaim with admiration "It's DeLeo!" Lisa DeLeo, Miss Connecticut Teen USA, comes from "a very Italian family. We eat pasta every night." In casual conversation, she mentions the word "family" often, and with an unmistakable warmth in her voice. She has cousins, aunts and uncles living around her hometown on the seashore, and she says, "I like to stick close to them." |
When she was a chiild, one of her family's favorite activities was watching beauty pageants on television. Back then, she could only dream of participating in such contests, but within a few years she was modeling, winning dance competitions and claiming beauty titles, including "Miss Petite Charm" for her local area. Now she's in the pageant big time, and she's still only 17. | 
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| Ms. DeLeo's ambition is to become a public relations specialist, and her dream is to be a "backup dancer for a boy band." Both could come to pass. Pageants have a way of changing girls' lives. The changes could be hard for her to imagine now. She may be a star someday, watching the sun rise in some exotic place, as a famous writer hangs on her every word. And if she's having breakfast at that moment, we recommend the melon. Top photo courtesy of Lisa DeLeo, trio photo courtesy of Miss Universe L.P., LLLP |
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