Sophia Sasso, age 12, recently returned from the International Junior Miss preteen pageant in Orlando with a win, a crown and the motivation to show others that beauty is on the inside.

“I love being on stage, it really brings out the girl side of me,” Sasso said. “I have been doing this for six years, and the first time I did it I fell in love with it. I knew I could one day get to this level, and now that I have the opportunity, I am going to give back to others.”

Sasso competed in March at the state level, and won. That win gave her the opportunity to go to the national level to represent the sate of Georgia. Sasso competed against girls from approximately 20 states.

“For her, winning this crown was not just having a crown on her head,” Sasso’s mother Sylvia said proudly. “She wants to be able to show people that beauty is from inside. She believes in community service and helping others. And that is what she hopes to promote on the national level. She now has the opportunity to travel around the country with the crown.”

Today beauty pageants are more about building leaders.

“What she has learned from the pageantry is to give back to the community,” Sasso’s mother said. “She was a representative of the Miss Dacula pageant program twice, and I think that has given her a really good foundation to go out and compete nationally. It also taught her to not be selfish and focus on other people and giving back.”

Sasso’s mother says that she is extremely excited about her big win, but what she likes most is that it gives her a voice to be able to give back to the community and reach out to those in need.

“I am very excited,” Sasso said. “All my hard work has paid off, and everything that I put into this worked out. It is a dream came true, and I am going to give back with it.”