On the windowsill in Carol Kosisko's office is a framed picture of Jennifer Keller, a girl Kosisko called her first Miss Ball State.
Keller received the title when the former executive director of the Miss Ball State pageant resigned during the pageant, leaving Keller without a director to prepare her for the Miss Indiana pageant in June.
Kosisko stepped up to fill in for a few months to help prepare Keller for the statewide pageant, meeting once a week from January to June, running through interview skills. She said they ended up becoming best friends.
Eleven years later, Kosisko looked at the picture and said she remembers how those couple of months turned into years by what she called "fate" and the many talented girls she has gotten to work with.
"No one else had the time or energy or interest, so I just continued to do it," Kosisko said. "I've learned a lot, and I really do enjoy seeing the growth in the young ladies who do compete."
This year's Miss Ball State pageant features a private interview, an on-stage question, an evening gown competition, a swimsuit competition and a talent competition. The pageant is at 5 p.m. Saturday in John R. Emens Auditorium.
Nine contestants will compete in front of a panel of five judges who ultimately decide the winners of each individual category. The winners will receive a $250 scholarship each. The judges also decide the overall winner, who will compete in the Miss Indiana pageant and will receive a scholarship of $2,000.
For a girl to win the title of Miss Ball State, she has to show the characteristics that uphold the four points of the Miss America crown: service, style, success and scholarship.
Ball State graduate Savannah Teegarden won the title of Miss Ball State in 2010 and said she still remembers how winning the pageant and working with Kosisko changed her life.
"[Kosisko] is the best," Teegarden said. "She's one of the best directors in the Miss Indiana program, hands down. No matter who was Miss Ball State and who wasn't, she just really wanted to make sure that all of us girls who went to Ball State feel good."
Teegarden spent months preparing for the pageant, trying to become the best she could be.
"I really wanted to be Miss Ball State, so I went out of my way to contact different local organizations and volunteer my time," Teegarden said. "I went out and sought different appearances."
One of the many organizations Teegarden became involved with was the Survivors of Homicide support group in Anderson, Ind.
Teegarden chose the support group as her platform during the competition because the cause is close to her heart.
On Feb. 2, 1999, Teegarden's 19-year-old sister was killed in Muncie.
Since then, Teegarden has taken it upon herself to try and spread the news of grief support groups, including Survivors of Homicide, to as many people as possible and show them that homicide is common and that help is available. She said winning Miss Ball State helped open up opportunities for her to do so.
Like Teegarden, this year's contestants Megan Thwaites, sophomore public relations and journalism major, and Courtney Jurick, senior public relations major, are competing for more than a scholarship. For them, the pageant is about winning the chance to become a spokesperson for their platform.
Jurick said she chose the March of Dimes for her platform because they saved her life.
Being born eight weeks premature, Jurick's lungs weren't fully developed so she was given only a 10 percent chance to live in the first week of her life. It wasn't until the March of Dimes found the right treatment that she was able to use her lungs properly.
"I'm a very healthy 21-year-old woman today, and I know that it's solely because of the March of Dimes that I've grown into the person I am," Jurick said. "So I feel like I just can't give back enough to the people who saved my life before it had even started."
Thwaites said she also hopes to represent a cause close to her heart.
"My mom's side of the family is basically why I have been affected by cancer. My mom has had sisters with cancer, her dad was diagnosed when she was 17 with brain cancer, and I've had a total of five uncles and aunts on both sides of the family that have died from cancer and my grandfather has cancer right now," Thwaites said. "So cancer has affected my family really closely."
For her platform, Thwaites chose the Relay For Life with the American Cancer Society. Thwaites has been going to the relays since she was in sixth-grade.
Last year, during the week of the Miss Ball State pageant, Thwaites' aunt lost her battle with breast cancer, in part because it was hard to come up with funding for her treatments. Thwaites said the relay is so important because it helps raise money for patients who need it.
"You want to help your family out as much as you can but you can't actually help them." Thwaites said. "Even without Miss Ball State, I would be doing the relay. It's not something I do to get recognition because of pageants. I did it before pageants, and I will continue to do it after I age out. It's just something that's really important to me."
Thwaites and Jurick are not the only contestants who are supporting a cause and working to prepare for the pageant.
"People seem to think that the girls in [pageants] are really catty toward each other," Thwaites said. "I am competing against one of my friends, but I don't like to look at it like that. We all do get along; these girls have worked just as hard as I have to get where they are, so there is no reason to be jealous or have resentment toward them. I think I appreciate the other contestants because I know how hard it is."
In the end, it could be any woman's name called.
"I've meet all nine girls that are competing this year, and they all seem to have a desire to win, even the freshmen who have signed up," Kosisko said. "This group is the most driven I think I have ever worked with as far as their desire to win and represent the university, and that's the biggest thing. That's their primary role, to represent Ball State in a positive light and to speak to people about Ball State about their experience here."
Read More
The Muncie Area Career Center has two programs for learning how to teach pre-K
By Hannah Amos / April 21, 2025Current early childhood educators can pursue credentials, while high schoolers learn early childhood education hands-on.
Doechii’s success shows authenticity always wins
By Hannah Seipel / April 10, 2025Doechii’s story tells us that being true to ourselves is the only way to find success. From choosing sobriety to deciding that a mixtape was the best path for her free artistic creation and even sharing with her fans that it’s okay to not be okay, Doechii proves that authenticity always wins.
History of: ‘The Legend of Zelda’ franchise
By Sam Jasionowski / February 28, 2025With The Legend of Zelda’s franchise reaching its 39th anniversary, the stories that build up the franchise are chalked full of in-game history that make each game an important addition to the entire timeline.
