Local Ms. Texas contestant competes for charity

Crystal Howard, graduate student and Greenville native, will represent North Texas at the Ms. Texas United States Pageant in Galveston on Oct. 9. Howard received her bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University-Commerce and will also earn her master's in Business Administration in December.

"I was a tomboy growing up, always wearing cowboy boots and extremely shy," she said. "My mother enrolled me into a pageant when I was 10 in hopes that I could become a little more extroverted."

She begrudgingly enrolled into the pageant only after her mother offered a bribe of going to Six Flags afterwards. Howard would go on to win the competition and begin a life-long passion for pageants.

Howard's pageantry power would help her win such titles as Miss Millennium and Miss Greenville, the latter of which offered her a college scholarship that brought her to A&M- Commerce. This October she will be competing for the state crown of Ms. Texas United States, where contestants will be judged on dancing, swimsuit and evening gowns, and on-stage interviews.

The "Ms." pageant category represents women in their 30s, either married or unmarried, and has a heavier focus on community involvement rather than talent contests such as Miss America. Howard has a background in volunteer-work and fundraising,

"This pageant celebrates people getting involved with the community, giving is my inspiration and my passion is my talent," she said.

While juggling her efforts between school, career and competitions, she is actively involved in charity and awareness efforts. Howard uses her talent and skills to participate in fashion shows, workshops, marathons, and fundraisers to pursue her passion for helping others. Her main platform and focus is helping women in need and combating domestic violence.

"Growing up, I was exposed to domestic violence in my community and understood how damaging it can be to families," Howard said. "It's so preventable and educating the public can help put an end to it."

Howard estimates that her fundraising efforts have helped raise over $250,000 this year alone.

"Hopefully, I can triple that amount as Ms. Texas United States," she said.

If she were to win the state competition, Howard would go on to compete for the national title in Las Vegas. She credits her sponsor, Physician's Auditing and Billing Services in Greenville, as playing a large supporting role on her path to the pageant competition.

Howard's background has prepared her for the judged on-stage competition. To help pay for school tuition, she has had recurring work on the television show, "Walker, Texas Ranger," modeled for magazines, and even landed a part in Oliver Stone's football film, "Any Given Sunday."

"Work is easier to juggle when you enjoy doing it. I enjoy all of this and it doesn't even feel like work. People are trained their whole life to pick a profession and groom yourself toward that, but that's a backward way to think of it. You have to look at yourself and your own passions and then find a career that fits that path."

She credits her experiences as being a solid foundation for her future ambitions. Howard currently works in the aerospace industry, and plans on using her background and education to help found her own pageant one day and continue to give back to the community.