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UArizona student to compete at Miss Arizona USA

Posted at 5:11 PM, Jan 03, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-04 10:25:27-05

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — There’s a Wildcat student who’s one step closer to competing for the Miss USA Pageant.

University of Arizona sophomore, Arisia Huff, is getting her chance to compete at Miss Arizona USA. The 19-year-old has competed in pageants for four years.

“I work, I think the most on his interview practice. I mean I have mock panels of judges and I have questions after questions and what my coach used to really like to do is we'd practice walking. So I'd be walking for like two or three hours in my heels. And then there's also, you know, fitness is portion of the competition. So there's about 12 weeks of like eating really healthy and just being your absolute best self, which can be really hard,” said Huff.

She’s excited to get her shot at a state title that’s all about self-confidence, fitness, scholarships, and an important platform to share. Her platform is mental health awareness. A topic that hit close to home for her and that is very relatable for a lot of folks going through 2020.

“With a big title like Miss Arizona, USA, I can really go out and spread that platform to more people and help people understand what mental health is, because I think there's a big stigma around it. And a lot of people don't believe that it's either real, or they believe that is so real that you just can't function as a person. And there's a lot of in between and awareness on how you can manage it,” said Huff.

Because of the pandemic, Miss Arizona USA is slated to happen in May; much later than its usual competition date in January.

“Which is exciting for the title holders this year because their year is way longer,” said Huff.

And as far as COVID preparations, Huff says they’re not quite sure how the competition will take place just yet.

“I haven't heard anything. I assume they're going to play it by ear. You know, there's a lot going on right now. Talks of vaccines, you know. So I think it's really hard to set that up so far in advance when we don't know where our country's going to be at that point in time,” said Huff.

The last year someone representing the Tucson area won Miss Arizona USA was in 2017. The year before that, was back in 1984.