MUNCIE, Ind. — The quest to crown a new Miss America is underway, and one Ball State University student is in the running.
Elizabeth Hallal is Miss Indiana 2022.
Originally from Georgetown, Indiana, Hallal is a senior at Ball State studying musical theater.
"The Miss America organization is so special," said Hallal, "because of how it prepares women for the rest of their lives. It is the largest scholarship organization for young women in the country, but it is actually so much more than that."
Hallal was crowned Miss Indiana 2022 in June. Since then, she has promoted her social impact initiative. It's called The Triple A Project, which stands for Accessibility to the Arts for All.
Hallal founded the project in 2019.
"We applied for nonprofit status," said Hallal. "I'm looking forward to claiming that status and being able to host large-scale fundraisers."
When it comes to preparing for the Miss America competition, Hallal says she also focuses on interview and talent prep.
"The biggest thing that I've learned in preparing for Miss America is that the best way to be ready is to already be doing the job," said Hallal. "So I've really been digging into my social impact work and making a plan, should I earn the title and should I earn the job, so that I can really commit and hit the ground running."
Preliminary competition for Miss America 2023 starts Monday, Dec. 12. Hallal says she is most looking forward to the talent portion of the competition.
"I have been singing my whole life," said Hallal, "and I am really excited to be bringing a musical theater performance to the Miss America stage, with a little bit of a twist. I am really proud of the work that I've done with it and just how I feel like it captures who I am through the song. I'm very excited."
Hallal says she is most nervous about the traditional on-stage question.
"Just because you only have 20 seconds to talk about whatever that is!" she said.
Miss America 2023 will be crowned Thursday, Dec. 15.