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05/07/2018
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By John Lavenburg
For the Journal Inquirer 3 hrs ago 0
Bridget Oei of Hebron has been named Miss Connecticut 2018 and plans to use her year in the spotlight to encourage girls to take part in science, technology, engineering, and math. A recent graduate of the University of Connecticut, she plans to attend medical school.
Winning the Miss Connecticut pageant is different from most other competitions. The singular moment when you are honored with a crown, trophy, medal, or ribbon while being showered by applause doesn’t mark the end.
Instead, being victorious sets you up to embark on a yearlong adventure raising awareness for causes that aren’t just important to the Miss Connecticut organization, but yourself as well.
For Miss Connecticut 2018 Bridget Oei of Hebron, that means promoting the involvement of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, programs.
Oei herself was involved in STEM growing up. She has been creating her own science projects since sixth grade, competing in 14 competitions between seventh and eighth grade, and during her years at East Catholic High School in Manchester.
“I competed in the Connecticut State Science Fair,” Oei said. “Every single year I would advance to international and national competitions with my little inventions.”
The idea to promote women in STEM as her service project arose from those experiences.
“I hope to inspire the next generation of little innovators because I was so involved in science research when I was growing up,” Oei said.
“What I want to do in my year (as Miss Connecticut) is encourage the young people, especially at the sixth, seventh, eighth, grades, where we see a decrease in science interest.”
Parts of her plan includes partnering with the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford. She will be there during science camp days, as a judge for the science fair, and attend STEM dinners.
An equally important service opportunity that means a lot to Oei is a partnership with Connecticut Children’s Medical Centers and the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
“Throughout my year I’ll be raising funds for the hospitals in Hartford,” Oei said. “Once a month I get to go visit the inpatients, the little kids there, and as someone that’s (a pre-medicine student) it’s so exciting for me.”
She will be holding other service events as well. One of them already planned is a blood drive.
Oei, who recently graduated from the University of Connecticut, is taking a year off and plans to apply to medical schools.
Beyond the service and organizational commitments, being Miss Connecticut means competing in the Miss America Pageant.
Oei said she has received a lot of great help and advice from past Miss Connecticuts.
“All of the past Miss Connecticuts have been excellent,” Oei said. “They all have an area of expertise and have been very supportive.”
As for the competition, Oei said she doesn’t know what to expect but doesn’t anticipate it will be much different from the state level. All she knows is that there is no longer a swimsuit competition, and the evening gown portion is being changed.
Oei has been competing in the Miss Connecticut Pageant since 2015. Before this year she has two other top-five finishes. In total, competing has earned her around $18,000 in scholarships that she said has been a tremendous help.
Once the Miss America competition is over, she will be done competing, she said, but she looks forward to staying involved in the organization.
“As much as I’m excited about this year I’m already thinking of what I can do to prepare the next girl for success,” Oei said. “I think that’s what I really love about this line and legacy of women.”
There will be three nights of preliminary competition for the 2019 Miss America title Sept. 5-7. The competition takes place on Sept. 9, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. It will air on ABC from 9 to 11 p.m.
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