One of the first things that Elizabeth Cardillo did in her role as the new Miss Pennsylvania USA 2015 was to visit her alma mater, Hampton High School.
“It will always be a special place to me. I had an amazing education and will always be grateful that I grew up here,” said Ms.Cardillo, who was crowned Dec. 7 as Miss Pennsylvania USA. In the spring, she will represent Pennsylvania in the Miss USA pageant.
Her pageant journey started shortly after she graduated in 2010 from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. Ms. Cardillo had researched schools that offered fashion studies and found that the institute was considered one of the top five in the country, but what sealed the deal was her campus visit.
“I walked on campus on a January day, the sun was shining and it was 80 degrees. Who wouldn’t want to go there?” she said.
Ms. Cardillo’s parents, Vince and Sally, were very supportive of sending their only child across the country for college.
“They wanted me to be happy. I didn’t know anyone, didn’t have any family out there, but I wanted to go there,” she said.
After she graduated with an associate degree, Ms. Cardillo worked as a bridal consultant at a salon in Los Angeles. While watching the Miss USA pageant one night after work with her roommate, she was struck by the contestants.
“I turned to my roommate and said, ‘I would love to meet these women.’ They just all seemed so accomplished and poised,” she said.
Since she didn’t have any sisters and her college didn’t have sororities, she looked at the pageant as sort of a sisterhood or sorority.
“The funny thing is I was right. Some of the women I have met in the pageants are some of my best friends. I’m very close to Miss USA and Miss Nevada,” she said.
Ms. Cardillo started researching pageants, watching pageants online, meeting people and talking with other contestants. In her first pageant in 2011 in California, she finished in the top 20 out of 300 women.
“That was very good for my first pageant and really motivated me,” she said. Ms. Cardillo continued training while working as a bridal consultant and then decided it was time to come back home. Early this year, she moved back to Hampton.
“I have a huge Italian family and missed everyone. I thought after five years, it was time to come back,” she said. She also decided to compete in the Miss Pennsylvania USA competition.
The pageant includes an interview, a swimsuit competition and an evening gown segment. As the winner, she received a four-year scholarship; representation from MMG, a modeling and talent agency in New York City; and other prizes.
In her role as Miss Pennsylvania USA, Ms. Cardillo will make public appearances and also promote a cause that is close to her heart, adoption.
“I was adopted when I was a baby. I was born to a teen mom who made the selfless choice to give me up. I hit the jackpot when it came to my parents and my family. I have wonderful parents and the most incredible extended family ever,” she said.
Ms. Cardillo hopes to raise awareness about children who are waiting to be adopted while also providing hope and motivation to those children.
“There are 102,000 children in the U.S. waiting to be adopted,” she said. “I want them to know that they don’t have to give up their dreams, that they are importanti and special.”
Kathleen Ganster, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.
First Published: January 8, 2015, 5:00 a.m.