When a young Jamie O?Brien looked at the super-sized crayons her mother gave her, she didn?t see stick figures or square houses.
She saw fame.
“Instead of using them to color, she would pretend they were a microphone,”said her mother, Lorraine O?Brien. “I knew we were in trouble.”
Now 18, the Owings Mills resident is one of 51 teen girls who will vie for the Miss Teen USA crown tonight in a televised pageant from Palm Springs, Calif. Crowned Miss Teen Maryland in November, Jamie O?Brien has been in Palm Springs since July 30 getting to know fellow contestants between media interviews, appearances and rehearsals for the national contest.
The top 15 contestants, chosen by a preliminary contest Thursday, will compete in evening and swimwear contests and an interview with judges. Only three people “in the world” know the identities of the top 15 going into the main event tonight, pageant officials said.
Jamie O?Brien, who lives in Owings Mills and graduated from Garrison Forest School in the spring, competed in the 2004 state pageant after receiving a letter from pageant organizers seeking contestants. Without formal training, she was a finalist, then came back in 2006 with an interview coach and trainer to cinch the crown.
Jamie O?Brien said she wants to be the first Maryland teen to win the national contest ? which comes with a $20,000 prize package ? to spread her message against peer pressure.
“You don?t have to drink because you think it?s cool at a party,” she said. “Be responsible. I think that?s one of the big problems facing our generation.”
Jamie O?Brien is headed to Elon University in North Carolina where she plans to study broadcast journalism 10 days after the pageant.
The lure, again, is the microphone, Jamie O?Brien said.
“I could just see myself saying into the camera, ?This is Jamie O?Brien, signing off,? ” she said. “That would be awesome.”
IF YOU WATCH
» What: Miss Teen USA Pageant
» Where: 8 p.m. NBC
» For more on Jamie O?Brien: www.missteenusa.com/delegates/2006/files/MD.html
