With only 11 days to prepare, Diamond Bar High School senior Natalie Swartout took a last-minute chance to enter the annual Miss Santa Monica Teen Pageant—and she won.  

“I was really excited. I knew that I prepped as hard as I could even though I decided to do it so last minute so I was fully confident in what I had done,” Swartout said. “I expected to do well but I didn’t necessarily know that I was going to win so I was very excited that I ended up winning.”

For the pageant, she competed in activewear and evening gown contests, answered two onstage questions and underwent a personal one-on-one interview with the judges.

“My favorite was probably the onstage questions because you get to talk about yourself to the judges,” Swartout said.

Swartout started competing in pageants after her neighbor, 2012 Miss Diamond Bar Alexandra Miller, made a suggestion that she try out.

“At first I didn’t want to do it, but I decided to end up pursuing it. When I won my first pageant, I realized that it was such a fun experience,” Swartout said.

As Miss Santa Monica Teen, Swartout helps out each month by visiting shelters to feed the homeless and attend charity events. One of the most recent events she attended was Know the Glow at Jimmy Choo on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The charity event sells shoes to raise money to promote awareness of childhood blindness.

“I wasn’t carrying anything but I had my sash and I was just there to represent and be supportive of the organization,” Swartout said.

Aside from her involvement in beauty pageants, she also participated in a fashion show called the San Diego Fashion Fest, in which she wore outfits from four different designers.

Currently, Swartout is working with her pageant coach, Kristen Bradford, to prepare for next year’s Miss California Teen USA. Afterwards, Swartout plans to try out for Teen USA in the future.

“She’s going to be going over my walk [and interview questions] with me, just preparing me for any possible question,” Swartout said. “I’m really just getting my body and mind in shape.”

Although she is still undecided with what career path to choose, Swartout said that she plans to major in business and transfer into the cosmetic industry.

“[Participating in pageants] really just made me a more confident person,” Swartout said. “I know parts of myself that didn’t know before so it really just changed me for the better and matured me a lot.”