This year’s Miss Alabama Pageant will have 47 contestants, and six are UNA students.

Erica Kelly, Erica Gholson, Emily Winkler, Rachel Persall, Sarai Ingle and Chelsea Yarber will all be representing the university during the pageant preliminaries Nov. 14.

Tyler Thompson, assistant director for programming and Student Engagement, believes it is unusual to have so many UNA students competing in the pageant, he said.

The competition is significant because Miss America requires so much time that it is like a full-time job for the winner.

“If you win Miss Alabama you get to go on to Miss America,” Thompson said. “She is the figurehead of the organization, and she becomes an emcee hosting pageants, going to parades, hosting breakfasts and speaking to schools. Some of the benefits (of Miss Alabama) include the use of a car for a year, an apartment in Birmingham for a year, wardrobe allowances and paid appearances.”

Although Kelly is Miss UNA 2014, all of the contestants have the support of UNA, Thompson said.

“Part of UNA’s program is to help any of our contestants and anyone who is interested in being in Miss UNA,” Thompson said. “Our focus in the spring goes more toward our actual title holder so we spend more time helping her get ready, but I tell any of them that if they have questions or anything they can still come and talk to us.”

Kelly is honored to have won Miss UNA and looks forward to the possibility of winning Miss Alabama as well, she said.

“Winning Miss UNA has a very special meaning to me as I will be representing the university that I am so proud to attend,” Kelly said. “I believe the best part of winning Miss Alabama would be the opportunities I would be given to do great work in both my personal platform ‘Be Aware, Don’t Stare’ and the national platform of Children’s Miracle Network.”

Gholson, Miss UNA 2010, will be competing in this year’s pageant as Miss Gardendale Magnolia Festival. Winkler, Miss UNA 2013, will be competing in this year’s pageant as Miss North East Alabama, Thompson said.

Gholson decided to compete for Miss Alabama to fund her education, she said.

“My overall assistance from the Miss Alabama program to date amounts to over $20,000 and aided in the attainment of both my bachelors and soon-to-be master’s degree,” Gholson said. “Not all (preliminaries), as a matter of fact most (preliminaries), do not offer as much assistance as UNA, but they are a ticket to Miss Alabama where the big money is. That has kept me competing even after living my dream of representing my university.”

Miss Alabama has always been a role model for Winkler, she said.

“Becoming Miss Alabama has always been a dream of mine,” Winkler said. “I would be honored with the opportunity to represent UNA, my community and state.”

Persall, a freshman, will compete in this pageant as Miss Rocket City, Ingle, a junior, will compete as Miss Walker County and Yarber, a sophomore, will compete as Miss Birmingham, Thompson said.

“After being an athlete my whole life, I had an injury my senior year of high school that really made me think about pursuing other interests,” Persall said. “So I decided to really focus on my singing and that led to competing in Miss Alabama. (The competition) teaches you who you are as a maturing woman and how to better communicate with others.”

Ingle decided to enter the competiition through her local preliminary, she said.

“I chose to compete in Miss Walker County because it is my home community,” Ingle said. “The best part about winning a local preliminary is the chance to compete at Miss Alabama and work with the community throughout the year.”