Monday, May 7

Miss America Pageant Interview Questions

Well.  I thought i would never ever be posting about Miss America after my misfortune with the pageant (I was all set to compete and a few weeks before competition the director told me I actually had aged out - I'm only 24!) :(.


Alas, I was asked to be a mock judge for 5 girls competing within the Miss America organization, so here we are.

I've decided to post the questions I plan on asking because I remember having heart palpitations scouring the internet in the middle of the night looking for interview sample questions and coming up empty handed.

Enjoy!


QUESTIONS FOR MOCK INTERVIEWS June 2012

ICE BREAKERS:
  • What are you passionate about?
  • If you could only tell us one thing about yourself, what would it be?
  • You’ve already achieved so much in your life, which accomplishment are you most proud of?


NEWS:
  • Do you think that public news broadcasts like Fox should be allowed to push their political opinions so heavily on viewers?
  • How do you feel the media has portrayed our president? Do you agree?
  • How do you feel about David McCullough Jr (the Wellesley English teacher” telling graduates that they are nothing special or exceptional?
  • Where do you fall on the gestation crate debate?
  • Do you believe that the recent national security leaks could have been politically motivated?
  • Do you agree with the 60% of American voters who believe that Obama’s healthcare mandate (forcing everyone to purchase health insurance) violates Individual rights?
  • How do you feel about same sex marriage?
  • Do you think the sentence of 4.5 years jail time for manslaughter by texting while driving was fair?
  • Governor Scott Walker ran a $50 million dollar race in Wisconsin.  What is your opinion on the opinion that he “bought his win” and what implications does this have on US democracy?
  • Should the US end the war in Afghanastan?
  • How should the US handle the genocide in Sudan?
  • Should the government legalize stem cell research?
  • Should the government require health insurance to offer free birth control?
  • Should children of illegal immigrants be granted citizenship?
  • Should we be addressing more attention to Global Warming?
  • Is the cost of higher education in the United States too high? 

MASSACHUSETTS:
  • Can you tell a personal story or relate an incident that reflects the character of Massachusetts?
  • How would you describe MA to someone visiting for the first time?
  • Do you think that MA should ban escort sites like backpage.com?
  • Should Middleboro enact a 20-dollar fine on profanity in public?

COMPETITION:
  • What is your least favorite part of competition and why.
  • Why do you deserve the title over the other girls competing?

GENERAL:
  • What do you think are “American values” and what makes them distinctly “American?” How do you see your career goals deriving from or supporting those values?
  • Adele has been under recent heat for admitting to wearing 4 pairs of spanx under a Grammy dress.  Do you think Spanx are oppressive to women? 
  • What do you think about Miss Ohio USA relinquishing her crown because she believed the pageant was fixed?
  • If you were given the opportunity to make a 1 minute video that would reach every single American, what message would you give?
  • You have achieved so much, do you have any failures, and if so what have you learned from them?
  • What are your plans if you do not win the pageant?
  • What will you do if you do not win the pageant?
  • Do you believe you deserve the title more than the other girls competing?


Contestant 1 - 
  • Why would you like to pursue a career as a professor of Psychology?
  • Which branch of psychology would you most like to focus on?
  • How has an associate degree in dance contributed to your liberal arts education?
  • What were the results of the psychological research you did on the brain’s multi-tasking?
  • How did your research on the brain’s multi-tasking contribute to the field of psychology?
  • You raised an impressive amount of money towards your goal so far, is there room to raise more or have you exasperated your sources?
  • Where do you fall on the current US immigration laws?
  • You mentioned that obesity is a major social issue affecting our youth.  Do you believe that Mayor Bloomberg is addressing the root of the problem by attempting to ban soda sales over 16 oz in restaurants and sports venues?
  • What impact have your travels had on you?
  • What has working with children with special needs taught you?
  • How would you cope if you lost your ability to dance?
  • If you could interview a great theorist of psychology, who would it be and why?
  • What is your opinion on Jerry Sandusky’s lawyers using his alleged personality disorder in his defense?


Contestant 2 - 
  • Why photography? 
  • Can your education in photography be applied to other aspects of your life?
  • Why did you choose to study in Greece? How has travel shaped you?
  • Explain your role as a support group speaker?
  • What type of photography do you most enjoy?
  • Explain what it means to be recognized by the France Tourism Bureau for photography?
  • What was the Lewis and Clark expedition?
  • If you could photograph one celebrity who would it be?
  • What can our generation do to help one another find hope in today’s economy?
  • What have your life struggles with cancer taught you?
  • What would you tell a child who has just been diagnosed with cancer?
  • If you could interview a great artist, who would it be and why?

Contestant 3 - 
  • What drew you to study Psychology, which branch most interests you?
  • Do you think that prescription drugs are over-prescribed by psychiatrists? 
  • Why elementary and special ed?
  • What did you receive the Exemplary Citizen Award for?
  • How have you impacted your class as the freshmen president?
  • Who did you take the rv trip with? 
  • What were the difficulties you encountered on the road tirp?
  • Explain how seeing the US shaped you.
  • If you could interview an early theorist of psychology who would it be and why?
  • What could be done to lower college debt?
  • Do you think lowering the college debt would diminish the quality of the US higher education?
  • What is your opinion on Jerry Sandusky’s lawyers using his alleged personality disorder in his defense?


Contestant 4 - 
  • What in particular would you like to do in the entertainment industry?
  • What draws you to wish to pursue a career in the entertainment industry?
  • What did you learn from your internships?  If you want to be in the entertainment industry, what drove you to pursue internships with the House of reps and the dept of homeland security?
  • What was your opinion of the Miss MA teen USA competition?
  • Do you think that girls as young as 13 should be judged in bathing suits?
  • What did you enjoy most from your trip to Italy?
  • How has participating in pageants shaped your personality?
  • Who is a celebrity in the public eye you admire and why?

Contestant 5 - 
  • Epilepsy Awareness.  What will this entail? What are the specific tangible goals?
  • Do you think that the news anchors push their political opinions too heavily on viewers?
  • Should reporters stop at nothing to report the news?  Should they leak bloodied photos and stories that could threaten national security just to stay competitive?
  • Tell me about volunteering for the Special Olympics.
  • If you could interview any actor, who would it be and what would you want to find out.
  • Who is a political leader past/present whom you admire most and why?
  • How can you promote voting enthusiasm?
  • Are elections bought? What did you learn from your internships for the senator and the state house?
  • What would you do if you were working for Rupert Murdoch and being asked to hack into private phone conversations to get the best stories?

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting these. I recently volunteered to interview high school students for an annual leadership camp. I have done the interviewing a couple times before but was having a block on the questions I was going to ask. These will be very helpful. Thank you!

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  2. Really? Public news broadcasts like Fox? What about the far left views of MSNBC, or WaPo, or NY Times? Those are the stations that manipulate the masses of uninformed voters. Yes, Fox is biased, but something has to counteract the extreme bias of the mainstream media. I highly doubt a conservative contestant would ever win one. But, pageant queens aren't the women that young girls should be looking up to anyway. The should be looking up to scientists and accomplished musicians, and women who don't say things like "...the Iraq and everywhere like such as...".

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