BOUNTIFUL, Utah - The current Miss Utah doesn't play into the "beauty queen" stereotype, but she say competing in the state competition - and now Miss America - helped her get into medical school.
Former Miss Davis County Kara Arnold was crowned Miss Utah back in June, winning a $10,000 scholarship to help with her schooling.
Arnold graduated with a degree in chemistry and was accepted to the University of Utah's prestigious medical school, but now she's preparing to head to Miss America next Month.
She says that while chemistry and pageants don't seem to go together, pageants helped her out with school.
"I've been able to use my education in chemistry and pageantry to do things like job interviews and medical school interviews so they've just worked really well together," she said.
Arnold will be competing in several different categories - evening gown, swimwear, talent (she's been playing piano since age 6) - but she hopes her passion about her platform will be the most impressive.
"My platform is called Step Up With STEM - science, technology, engineering and math - and I go around and do about an hour-long assembly where I integrate three to four different chemistry experiments," she said.
She says she has a lot of fun teaching kids about the sciences and getting them excited about careers in STEM fields.
Arnold is now heading to the Las Vegas Strip where she'll compete for the title of Miss America on Jan. 12.
