Miss Asian Atlanta recognizes Tech students

The Chinese Student Association (CSA) awarded Bao Ngoc To, a Tech student, $4,000 and named her Miss Asian Atlanta Scholar at its third scholarship pageant Saturday evening in front of a full house at the Ferst Center for the Arts.

The organization also presented awards to Georgia State student Arti Angel Sharma, who received $2,000 for being named First Honorary Scholar and Tech student Kathy Pham, who received $1,000 for being named Second Honorary Scholar. In addition, four $250 prizes in smaller categories were awarded.

Twenty contestants from Tech, Georgia State University, Emory University, the University of Georgia and Georgia Perimeter College competed for a total of $8,000 in scholarship money. Judges considered academic records, extracurricular activities, artistic talent and grace when choosing winners.

To qualify, contestants had to have been at least 50 percent Asian as defined by CSA, meaning that qualifying contestants must have had at least two Asian grandparents.

To, a third-year Biomedical Engineering Major and a Vietnamese American, hopes to impact the community through involvement in various organizations such as the Union of Vietnamese Students Association, for which she serves as president. After graduating, To would like to participate in an M.D./Ph.D. program and to help bring unity and cultural awareness to the Atlanta’s Vietnamese community.

“I believe that this scholarship pageant truly seeks a dignified Asian female who encompasses scholastic excellence, leadership skills and cultural pride, as well as grace and self-confidence,” To said. “Knowing what the title and the scholarship pageant stands for, I’m deeply honored that the judges selected me as whom they think is the most qualified candidate.”

CSA held the pageant with the goals of “providing scholarship money, bringing together the Asian community, and helping to defy the stereotype s of Asian women by showcasing that they are leaders,” said Charles Ngo, vice president of CSA and the pageant’s director.

“This event promotes cultural diversity and helps [contestants] to be proud of their culture-their Asian heritage,” said Jeff Wei, Events chair for CSA. “It also gives the winners a chance to help the community. Winners often go into younger Asian community and act as a role model for younger Asians.”

The contest was not solely a beauty pageant, Wei and Ngo said. CSA looked for well-rounded contestants with high academic qualifications and a strong community presence in addition to contestants that exhibited elegance and beauty. Some of the judging areas, in addition to applications with GPAs, essays and recommendation letters included a talent performance, private interviews, personal introductions, an evening gown competition and an on-stage interview.

“The beauty was just a supplement. There was more emphasis on the beauty part in the past. This year there was more emphasis on qualifications for a scholarship,” Wei said. “For example, their applications were 25 percent [of their scores], which included their GPAs, the essays they wrote, community service they’ve done and extracurricular activities they’ve done.”

“We were looking for an extremely well rounded woman. Just because she had good grades didn’t mean she was going to win, interview skills, poise, and grace also counted. She had to be good at everything and able to handle pressure,” Ngo said.

Last year the CSA was unable to host a Miss Asian Atlanta Scholarship Pageant due to funding issues.

After this year’s competition, CSA hopes it will be a yearly event supported by many different organizations included SGA and corporate sponsors such as Coca Cola and Georgia Power.

“This year we wanted to revitalize the pageant and we hope to make this an annual tradition,” Ngo said, “and we hope that it gets bigger each year as we get more sponsors and support from the community.”

“I’m honored to represent Georgia Tech and the Vietnamese-American community as the 2006-2007 Miss Asian Atlanta Scholar. I am very proud and hope to continue to live up to the honor bestowed upon me,” To said.

“As the only person who saw each contestant go through every stage of the process I truly feel that the winners of the pageant were the most deserving,” said Charles Ngo, vice president of CSA and the pageant’s director.

Pham and Iris Liaw (University of Georgia), Nancy Shim (Emory University) and Acelyn Barlaan (Tech) also won $250 for receiving titles in other categories.