Miss Teen USA Brandi Sherwood returned from the national pageant last week a celebrity, but she said she intends to keep her feet on the ground.
"It's important to remember who you are," the 18-year-old Idaho Falls woman said. "There's a lot that goes on, but it's only a year and then it's over with."She was crowned July 25 by Wil Shriner, host of the Miss Teen USA pageant, and last year's winner, Mindy Duncan of Oregon. She competed against 50 other contestants, ages 15-18, at the pageant. The event was telecast by CBS in 20 countries.
Sherwood, daughter of Don and Shirley Sherwood of Idaho Falls, won almost $150,000 in cash and prizes, including a car, a diamond and gold ensemble, a sportswear wardrobe, a one-year scholarship, a three-week European fashion study tour and $66,000 in cash.
A 1989 Idaho Falls High School graduate, she will now choose between Oklahoma City University, where she would study communications and performing arts, and the Fashion Institute in Los Angeles, where she has been offered a scholarship to study interior design or fashion merchandising. She said at this point she is not sure which school she will attend.
While in school, Sherwood will have to juggle her studies and her duties as Miss Teen USA, which will include several speaking engagements.
If Sherwood decides to live in California, she will share an apartment with Miss Universe and Miss USA. As Miss Teen USA, she is entitled to compete in the Miss USA pageant next February if she wants to.
Sherwood said competing in the pageant was hard work.
"It's an intense competition," she said. "You get up early in the morning at 5:30, and then you're on the go all day."
While still in California, Sherwood was a guest on the Pat Sajak show, where she quickly turned the tables on her host by asking him questions. She said that because she hopes someday to become an actress, appearing on the show was good experience.
Sherwood also had a pre-arranged date with teen idol Kirk Cameron, star of television's "Growing Pains," to attend the premier of Steve Martin's new comedy, "Parenthood."
Sherwood was crowned Miss Teen Idaho in August 1988. Winning pageants is not new to her, she said. She won the Miss Idaho National Teenager pageant in 1986 and was third runner-up in the national competition.