Less than 24 hours after Rita Ng was crowned Miss California in June, reporters set up camp outside her Tracy, Calif., home. They wanted to know just one thing, says Ng: "You graduated from Stanford with a 3.99 GPA -- what in the world are you doing in this pageant?"
Plenty, as it turns out. The first Asian-American to serve as Miss California, Ng, '00, is also the first contestant to win multiple awards at the competition, a warm-up for Atlantic City, where she will compete October 14 for the Miss America title.
A human biology major who rarely wore makeup on the Farm, Ng has postponed enrolling in UCSF's medical school to focus on her duties as Miss California, which include trips to the French Riviera and Africa to promote children's health and welfare.
Ng has the help of a personal trainer, a nutritionist and hair and makeup stylists. But don't call her a beauty queen. "It's not all how you look in a swimsuit," she says, citing the generous scholarships the program awards (she won $10,000, plus a 2000 Ford Mustang).
AP Photo/ The Fresno Bee, Darrell Wong
