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Selena Vazquez Dec 14, 2022
Black, Hispanic and American Indian residents were missed at higher rates than a decade ago during the 2020 census, according to a report that evaluated how well the once-a-decade head count tallied every U.S. resident.
Being Miss New Jersey for the past few months has helped mold Augostina Mallous into the person she always wanted to be.
Mallous, of Cape May Court House, is representing the state during the Miss America Competition this week at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. Dating to 1921, the competition has traditionally been held in Atlantic City, with a hiatus in Las Vegas from 2006 to 2013 and a move to Connecticut in 2019.
The final night of the competition is Thursday.
“I found myself being challenged, but I learned through the competition and organization that Miss America became to be someone I’ve always strived to be. I found an outlet to be the person she wanted to be,” Mallous said.
In June, Mallous beat 28 other women to win her Miss New Jersey crown at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.
“It’s incredible that I get to wake up every day and serve and represent the state,” said Mallous, 20.
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Growing up, Mallous was a dancer with good grades and an ability to connect with people.
Her “big, loud Greek family” is known for their hospitality both culturally and literally, since they own the Court House Diner in Cape May Court House, which she still works at. She said that background allowed her to easily connect and network with people when she first started competing in pageants at 12 years old.
Mallous said she didn’t see herself as a pageant girl at first. It wasn’t until she competed in her first pageant that she changed her mind.
“Everything I thought it was, it was the opposite,” Mallous said.
She said she’s always seen herself as a leader, but the Miss America Organization has helped her become the woman she wanted to be, by getting on stage, talking to random people and speaking to others about her initiatives.
“Miss America is not a pageant anymore, it’s scholarship opportunity,” said Mallous. “They want Miss New Jersey or Miss America to be the girl next door. She is a leader people can relate to.”
Mallous, who is a journalism major at Hofstra University in New York, has garnered over $30,000 in scholarships through pageants. She plans on getting her master’s degree after she graduates.
If she wins the Miss America Competition this year, she’d also win an estimated $500,000 in scholarship money.
Mallous’ platform as Miss New Jersey is human trafficking education. After reading that human trafficking was a $150 billion industry that happens everywhere, even in her hometown, she was appalled that she knew nothing about it, especially as a young woman who travels alone.
She also had an experience that she believes was an attempt at human trafficking.
Mallous was exiting an Uber ride when she noticed a man staring at her at the train station. A woman then approached her, asking to borrow her phone, while the man continued to stare at her, but she denied the woman’s request.
“I was safe because I recognized the signs,” said Mallous. “But just thinking that there are millions of people being affected by human trafficking, I was super determined to educate people about the dangers of trafficking, and made it my mission.”
Besides advocating against human trafficking, Mallous uses her Miss New Jersey platform to attend events all over the state, including charity galas, walks and speaking appearances, while slowly preparing for Miss America weekend.
Mallous said she treats it like preparing for a job interview.
The three-day Miss America Competition began Monday night with preliminaries and will conclude Thursday with the crowning of a new Miss America. The final night of the competition will stream from Apple TV, Roku TV and the Miss America website.
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