Nineteen-year old Trina Seymour has fought for more than just the Miss Teen USA title. Just three months before the national competition in Shreveport, La., Seymour was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
Seymour is the master of ceremonies for the Miss Utah Teen USA preliminary and finalist competitions being held at Highland High School Friday night and this evening, where friends, family and the public are welcome to attend.Metabolism changes inherent with thyroid cancer, such as weight gain and fatigue, challenged Seymour before she returned to her family in California in May to undergo thyroid surgery. She opted not to undergo radiation treatments until after the Aug. 17 Miss Teen USA pageant.
By mid-June, Seymour was destined to make up for lost time by following a strict schedule to pound the pavement eight miles a day and work out four hours a day in the gym. But this is nothing new to Seymour. Her love for physical fitness has always been a part of her life.
She is also a faithful vegetarian who disciplined herself to a low-fat diet of fruits and vegetables to shed the few pounds she had gained due to metabolism changes associated with the cancer and her layoff after her thyroid surgery. Seymour never drinks carbonation and abstains from eating sugar. "Cancer thrives on sugar," she says.
Beginning in 1996, Seymour won the first pageant she had ever entered -- the Miss Dixie Teen USA pageant in Washington County. Upon her second attempt, she won the Miss Utah Teen USA Pageant in August 1997.
Seymour is nothing short of a super achiever and thrives on it. After winning Miss Dixie Teen USA, Seymour decided to use the scholarship she was awarded at Dixie College at the same time she finished her senior year at Snow Canyon High School in Santa Clara, Washington County. Seymour was able to graduate with an associate of arts at Dixie College two weeks after her high school graduation, aided by her ability to pass CLEP tests.
Just one month after her radiation treatments, Seymour spoke at seven high schools about the DARE program, a state-sponsored drug awareness program. Rosanne Swint, pageant director, said Seymour was tired from her October schedule, but she wasn't too worried about her.
Seymour has been involved as a weekly volunteer at the Dixie Regional Medical Center and at the Women's and Children's Crisis Center. She also speaks and promotes the governor's program on dating and domestic violence.
"Trina is always positive -- she knows where she's going," said Seymour's mother, Sharyn Seymour. When confronted with cancer, Seymour's mother said her daughter never broke down. According to Sharyn Seymour, her daughter's attitude was more, "OK, so what do we do next?"
Tricia Hunsaker and Nicole Hansen, contestants for this year's Miss Utah Teen USA Pageant, said it's not just about modeling. Contestants are expected to be knowledgeable about news and current events, self awareness and problems facing teens.
"It's not just fluff," Seymour says. "It's really a vehicle to attain goals, education, jobs and sponsors. It's an opportunity I would never have had," Seymour says with conviction.
Seymour didn't win the Miss Teen USA Pageant, but plans to continue public speaking and to promote a goal-setting program she developed called "Aspire Higher." She also plans to complete an internship in Los Angeles in the spring and graduate with a degree in communications and a minor in business from Brigham Young University in August. Her long-term goals include returning to school to earn a master's degree in business administration.
"I felt totally prepared to go to the Miss Teen USA Pageant," Seymour says. "It really just prepared me for life."