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Lake Andes native Cayla Nelson is having an outstanding year. The 17-year-old was crowned National American Miss South Dakota for 2022 this past summer and just returned from competition in Orlando, Florida.

“I’ve competed in pageants for the past two years,” detailed Nelson. “I started off with the (Miss) USA system and after placing second runner-up the director of NAM—National American Miss, contacted me and asked if I would be interested in competing for the first ever South Dakota pageant. I decided—you know what, it’ll pave the way for younger generations in South Dakota by being the first one.”

This regional pageant was conducted in Des Moines, Iowa in August. Nelson competed and won the title for South Dakota. She was there with other pageant participants from Nebraska, Iowa and North Dakota. The titleholders from each state then received a prize package involving a trip to Florida for the national pageant.

A lot of preparation was required to get ready for the National American Miss pageant. To better prepare, Nelson opted to do home schooling for her junior year.

“I attended Lake Andes my first two years of preschool. I was homeschooled up until 2nd grade and then I went to Wagner up until just this year,” explained Nelson.

Public speaking is a huge part of the pageant process and it is something Nelson has a strong passion for thanks to her Evan Papousek, an educator at Wagner. He introduced her to public speaking through Future Farmers of America (FFA).

Nelson acknowledged, “I actually just love public speaking. FFA got me into public speaking. Evan Papousek was my FFA advisor and he kind of pushed me outside of my comfort zone and had me compete in a prepared public speaking contest.”

She was unsure about it and did not feel well on the day of the competition, but still took part and really enjoyed it. Papousek deserves a lot of credit according to Nelson as his belief in her meant a lot.

In addition to her studies and pageant prep, Nelson also works part-time for Prestige Cleaning Services. The busy life appears to keep Nelson focused and on track. She did not know what to expect when arriving in Florida, as it was her first time on an airplane and her first time leaving the Midwest.

There was also a bit of a learning curve for Nelson to figure out in the National American Miss system, as they had participants ranging in age from four-years-old to 24-years-old. This meant many of the contestants in Florida had been doing the pageant circuit from a young age and had multiple years of experience.

She noted, “I had no idea what I was going up against, but I figured as long as I’m myself and I’m the best version of myself then I’ll be just fine.”

It turns out that Nelson was more than fine. She stated that she placed in the top 12 in the nation at the pageant in Orlando, and won the People’s Choice award. Along with the accolades, Nelson also connected with other contestants and made some great friendships. Miss Pennsylvania and Miss Oklahoma were two contestants that Nelson bonded with during the 13 day trip.

“Those two were really sweet girls to me, and even the moms were the sweetest people ever,” said Nelson. “When you go into it, you don’t think I am competing against these people. In reality you’re competing against yourself and you’re competing with them. You basically want everybody to succeed.”

The first day of the pageant was a welcoming party where all of the contestants gathered. Optional contests took place in the following days leading up to the required contests for a shot at the title. Nelson’s mother, Laura, and younger sister, Cadee, accompanied her to Orlando. Her father, Mark, and older siblings, Ciara and Chris, stayed home and offered support from afar.

“Monday and Tuesday were optional competitions. I competed in casualwear and runway fashion. So those were scouted by modeling agents, and I also did (the) photogenic (competition),” detailed Nelson. “Before the required competitions started you gotta break…I ended up going to Sea World.”

The required contests consisted of a formalwear competition. For this event Nelson wore a ball gown and was escorted by her mother. Judging for this part included scoring for elegance, grace with walking and how one holds themself and shows confidence on stage without speaking.

“Following the formal wear competition they do an interview,” clarified Nelson.

The interview process was a nine-minute rolling interview with multiple judges. Contestants sit down quickly, give an answer and then get up and move to the next seat to get a question from another individual judge. It is a fast paced process.

Nelson said, “It is a rolling minute with each judge so by the time you actually sit down and talk with them it is only about 30-45 seconds.”

After the interview, contestants do a personal introduction for the judges. This is a 60 second speech about themselves. The short commentary had to include one’s full name, hometown and give an idea of the contestant’s passions or ideas.

“I gave mine on my platform ‘Little Minds Dream Big’. I’ve went and visited schools and talked about what it really means to dream big and turning basically any life goal and dream into a reality,” commented Nelson.

Her platform is meant to grow and encourage confidence in young ones. Making it into the top 12 at the national pageant meant that Nelson was able to give her speech, a second time, on-stage to the audience.

“That was my big goal,” stated Nelson. “I said ‘I don’t care if I walk away with a crown, I just want to give my speech again on-stage.’” A goal moving forward for Nelson is to share her platform with more schools and youth in the area. She has already spoken at Plankinton and to various 4-H groups. Many others have contacted her about visiting and now that the national pageant has concluded, Nelson looks forward to traveling to schools and organizations throughout the state.

In addition to delivering her platform and being a role model, Nelson will also graduate early from high school this spring. Her future is wide open, and she will always hold dear the title of National American Miss South Dakota. It is an experience she will use to encourage others to follow their dreams.

“I really focused on the fact that I was the first ever South Dakota representative on the national level. And I wanted to make that completely heard because there are so many little girls around, especially the girls that I babysit, that think it’s completely impossible…I am kind of just showing them that it can be done and you can do it.”