Vermont is dead last on the list of Miss America winners.

Since the scholarship pageant was founded in 1921, Vermont is the only state that has never made it past the first round of cuts and into the Top 15.

The newest Miss Vermont hopes to break that losing streak at the next Miss America pageant, to be telecast live from Las Vegas on Jan. 30 on TLC.

“I’d really like to break that barrier, and have our state be called into the top 15,” said Laura Hall, 21, who was crowned Miss Vermont on June 27. “I’ve been working very hard to make sure I am as prepared as I can be to represent our state.”

As the South Burlington native prepares for the pageant, she also begins her year of community service in Vermont. Her personal platform, which every contestant chooses and develops before the competition, is “Youth Empowerment – Leaders of Today.”

“I’ve learned so much from living here, so to be able to give back to Vermont… that’s something I really look forward to,” said Hall, who is a senior at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass.

Hall said she grew up with a strong support network that taught her about setting and meeting goals; knowledge she hopes to pass on to today’s youth.

“Anyone can be a leader, no matter how old they are, and everyone can make a difference,” she said. “I want to stress that to our youth and also society as a whole.”

Hall will embark on a tour of about 20 schools, mainly middle schools. She will talk to students about drugs and alcohol, overcoming peer pressure and self-esteem issues, community involvement, and setting and reaching goals.

“I will hold some leadership workshops, and just (share) my personal experiences,” she said. “I want to just be there to help guide people in whatever way I can.”

Hall said she hopes to start a nonprofit centered around youth empowerment, and would also like to get involved with the entertainment industry in some way, possibly doing public relations.

In her free time, when she can find it, Hall said she likes to relax with her friends and family.
“I’m very close with my family, and whenever I do have free time I like to spend it with my family,” she said.

Hall has a 24-year-old brother, Steve, and a younger stepsister, Abby Smith, 16. She has a two-year-old soft coat wheaten terrier named Tucker, whom she calls her younger brother.

Hall said she loves to dance, and performed a jazz dance for the talent portion of the Miss Vermont pageant.

She first started competing in scholarship pageants in 2006 as a high school senior, in order to raise money for college. She won the first pageant she entered, becoming Vermont’s Junior Miss, a scholarship program similar to Miss America. She then turned her attention to the Miss America pageant, which she had watched for years.

Before she heads to Las Vegas to compete, she wants to try to educate Vermonters about what it means to be Miss Vermont, she said.

“It’s so easy to view this pageant as the stereotypical pageant you see in movies and on TV shows,” she said. “But the girls that compete are really girls of substance … these are girls that really want to make a difference in the community.”

Check out Laura Hall’s blog at missvermont2009.blogspot.com.