Oran teen going to national pageant

ORAN, Mo. -- Even though she won the Miss Missouri Teen pageant in October, Amber Seyer has mixed feelings about going to the Miss Teen USA pageant.

"I'm scared, but I'm not really scared about walking across the stage," she said. "I think what makes me nervous is just getting through it and getting enough sleep."

Seyer, 17, leaves today for Palm Springs, Calif. For the next two weeks, she'll be in contact with only the 50 other Miss Teen USA delegates and those involved in the production. She'll be rehearsing, attending events and participating in the preliminary competitions. She won't be allowed to have physical contact with her parents, Sherry and Tom Seyer, until after the competition.

The Miss Teen USA pageant will air at 8 p.m. Aug. 12 on NBC.

The trip in California won't be the first time Seyer has spent time on the national pageant this year. Two days after school let out in May, Seyer left for Oklahoma to spend seven days with her sister state Miss Teen USA delegates, who all share the same pageant directors. Missouri's sister states for the pageant are Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

She's also traveled to Kansas City, Warsaw, Columbia and to San Antonio, Texas, for the Miss USA pageant.

"I'm not a pageant girl," Seyer said. "To me, this is like camp -- like a beauty camp."

But don't tell her the Miss Teen USA pageant is nothing but pretty faces, crowns and sashes.

"We have to be knowledgeable about who all the national titleholders are, like we have to know who Miss Universe is and Miss USA," Seyer said. "And we have to know what our organization actually does and that we are applying for a job."

Incentive to win

By winning Miss Missouri Teen last October, Seyer received four-year free tuition to Lindenwood University at St. Charles, Mo., where she plans to major in interior design.

If she wins Miss Teen USA, Seyer will receive a pearl crown valued at $15,000, a yearlong salary and thousands of dollars in other prizes.

But the real prize will come from her parents.

"They're both going to stop smoking for the rest of their lives," Seyer said. "I'm not kidding. That is like a major thing for me and an incentive to win."