Scholarship pageants are more than just evening wear and swim suits, they are a chance for young women everywhere to gain valuable real world experience and scholarship money.

Just ask first-year law student at WVU Allison Williams, crowned Miss West Virginia 2003 on Sunday (June 22) at Robert C. Byrd High School in Clarksburg. Williams, from Charles Town in Jefferson County, not only won the title, but $11,000 in scholarships and a chance to compete and represent West Virginia in the Miss America Pageant on Sept. 20 in Atlantic City.

Along with a prospective scholarship, the Miss West Virginia Pageant teaches women poise and manners. It also gives them the opportunity to form ideas about worldly problems and teaches them valuable interview skills needed for the workplace.

“When you leave here and go out into the real world for a job, you know what to expect,”Williams said of the interview portion of the competition.”After this, a job interview is simple.”

And Williams has her ideas solidly formed around her platform. She intends to help West Virginias children cope with divorce. This issue hits close to home. Williams was 15 years old when her parents divorced, and she intends to help children learn to copejust as she did.

Williams is no stranger to the scholarship pageant circuit. She has competed in the Miss West Virginia Pageant for the past four years. Last year she was runner-up to Jana Kerns, also a WVU student. First runner-up was Julia Burton, a WVU senior majoring in psychology and broadcast journalism.