Bits & Pieces: Shivali Kadam reflects on her Miss America experience

Jason Vondersmith Wednesday, January 08, 2020

Here are some notes on this and that and the other thing - including Shivali Kadam, Marissa Troeschel and January Series of Calvin University

COURTESY PHOTO - Shivali Kadam, Miss Oregon, poses with an award she won during the Miss America contest.

Pageant reflections

Miss Oregon Shivali Kadam had a pleasant time at the recent Miss America contest, and advanced further than anybody from the state in 10 years.

From Pamplin Media Group's Ellen Spitaleri:

As she competed in the pageant in December, Kadam said there was no greater honor than introducing herself as Miss Oregon every night while wearing the state banner.

When she was announced as the Private Interview Award winner for the Alpha Group, Oregon's first preliminary award win in 10 years, she said she was more excited to hear "Oregon" announced than she was her own name.

"I will never forget the pride I felt in representing my home on a stage of this magnitude, or the incredible women who continue to promote the values of service and scholarship through their outstanding accomplishments," Kadam said.

She also noted that the women she met during the event exceeded her expectations in every way imaginable.

"In addition to being talented and intelligent, everyone was so kind and genuinely interested in learning about one another," she said. "It was the one environment I have been in where I was able to sit next to anyone during meals and could count on having an engaging and meaningful interaction."

The format of the competition went through some radical changes this year and navigating the many changes of Miss America 2.0 was challenging.

"This show was a complete departure from the Miss America program most of us have dreamed for years of competing for. While I understand that the Miss America organization needs to evolve to maintain relevancy, it was disappointing that so few women from the Miss America Class of 2020 were featured in the live telecast," Kadam said.

But, she added, being able to go through the process with her fellow competitors, "made the entire experience worthwhile. I am so excited to see what new adventures these women undertake in the future."

Kadam is a Beaverton resident, and a 2012 graduate of Tualatin High School and 2018 grad of Oregon State University in chemical engineering. Up until a month ago she worked full-time as a construction manager for Jacobs Engineering Group in semiconductor manufacturing, but took time off to prepare for the national pageant.

This and that

• It was a good run for Portland's Marissa Troeschel, who finished second in the ABC reality show "The Great American Baking Show." Troeschel, a teacher at Kelly Elementary School, earned two "star baker" titles along the way.

In the final, she had issues making 24 choux buns and then with Frasier cake, but recovered to make respectable pistachio pots de creme. Brother Andrew Corriente won the competition.

• Add best animated movie to the collection of awards issued to Hillsboro's Laika Studios. The movie "Missing Link" won the category at the Golden Globe Awards.

• The January Series of Calvin University has started and goes through Jan. 28 at Oak Hills Christian Reformed Church, 2800 N.W. 153rd Ave. in Beaverton, one of 60 remote webcast locations for the series. Upcoming speakers include Jonathan Haidt (Jan. 13), a social psychologist at New York University; author Mitch Albom (Jan. 21), whose books have sold 39 million copies; and author/journalist Ann Compton (Jan. 22), who has covered seven presidents. For more: www.calvin.edu/january-series.

https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/11-features/447618-363870-bits-and-pieces-shivali-kadam-reflects-on-her-miss-america-experience