Camarillo woman vies for Miss California USA title

Self-described ‘Army brat’ attends Moorpark College

By Hector Gonzalez hector@theacorn.com

READY FOR HER CLOSE-UP— Alexies Oceguera of Camarillo will represent the city in the 2018 Miss California USA competition in Long Beach in December. The winner of the statewide pageant will vie for the Miss USA crown.

If there’s one character trait Alexies Oceguera can count on when she enters the Miss California USA pageant later this year in Long Beach, it’s her resilience.

The Moorpark College student will face a field of some 60 other beautiful, talented and intelligent women in the contest. The winner receives a $5,000 scholarship and moves on to the Miss USA pageant. The national winner then vies for the Miss Universe crown.

It’ll be a tough challenge, but Oceguera knows she has the wherewithal to compete. After all, this self-described “military brat” endured a “roller-coaster” childhood following her career Army father around three states and two countries, including four years in Germany. At age 20, she’s been enrolled at three different colleges.

“It was definitely a roller coaster, moving around a lot, adapting to different cultures, making new friends all over again, never having one single set best friend, never having a set house that I grew up in,” she said.

Born in Santa Maria, Oceguera, an only child, moved with her parents, Myrna and Fernando, to Germany when she was in sixth grade, then to El Paso, Texas, where she graduated from El Paso High. After a year or so the family moved again, this time to Arizona, where she enrolled at the University of Arizona in Tucson, only to have to transfer out a year or so later when her family moved to Maryland.

About a year ago, her family moved to Camarillo, and this move just might be permanent. After 20 years in the Army, her dad, a chief warrant officer, is seriously considering retiring, Oceguera said.

She enrolled at Moorpark and, despite having to start again at a two-year college, she remains determined to complete a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and eventually land a career in law enforcement. Lately she’s been thinking about following in her father’s footsteps and joining the Army to complete her law degree through the military, Oceguera said.

“They pay for your schooling, plus it’s a lifestyle that I know. Even though I wasn’t in it myself, my dad was for 20 years, so it’s something I’m very familiar with,” she said.

Rather than viewing her rootless childhood as a negative, Oceguera sees it as an asset she believes helped impress the panel of interviewers who selected her to represent Ventura County in the Miss California USA pageant in December at the Long Beach Terrace Theater.

“I love to travel, and I think that the fact that I’m so cultural helped,” she said. “Also, I’m Latina, and I’m fluent in Spanish, so I understand that aspect. After all, California is largely Latino. Hopefully, I can bring something different to the plate.”

To get ready for the event, Oceguera has been brushing up on the issue of cyber-bullying; pageant judges will be asking the contestants for their solutions to the problem, she’s been told, so she’s been researching the subject, she said.

Winning the title “will open a lot of doors,” she said.

“It will show me that I can accomplish anything. I’m super excited and super nervous.”

First, however, she has to raise $1,795 for the entry fee, which covers her hotel stay, meals and her sash. She’s already raised the $500 registration fee through gofundme.com and is looking for additional donations.

“It’s going to be a wonderful opportunity,” Oceguera said. “Representing the whole state is going to be a big deal, because I’m going to be representing young women from the entire state, showing them it’s OK if you’re a different skin color or speak a different language.”

http://www.thecamarilloacorn.com/news/2017-08-04/Neighbors/Camarillo_woman_vies_for_Miss_California_USA_title.html