HAGERSTOWN, MD - The new Miss Maryland was crowned Saturday
night.
"Never in a lifetime would I imagine that I would be
Miss Maryland and going to Miss America. That's really awesome," she
said.
There's reason this North Hagerstown High grad is still
in shock, she only started competing in pageants this year.
"The financial aid department had emailed her giving her the
information about the scholarship pageant for money to help out with
school and she thought, 'Let me just give this a shot,'" says Linda
Colella, Carlie's mother.
Colella is a senior at Hood
College. Her main goal is to empower women, something the
20-year-old has mastered.
"Something just clicked and I was
like, '"You know, I need to do things for me, I've always worried
about other people,'" says Carlie.
So when she didn't have a
dress for one of her first pageants, she wasn't too embarrassed to
ask for help.
"The one I wore for local I borrowed from my
boyfriend's sister, it was her old prom dress," she said.
It's that confidence Colella's mom says brought them through tough
times.
"I just cannot imagine being her age and going through
what she has gone through, and handling it the way she has handled
it," says Linda. "She is like a pillar of strength."
Linda
Colella has two jobs and she's thankful the Miss Maryland
Organization is standing by it's philosophy that no contestant
should rack up debt during pageants.
"We knew what our
limitations were financially and we thought we are going to make
the best of this," Linda says.
As Carlie gets ready for the
Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas next year, there's one thing on
her mind: to bring the crown to Maryland.
If that happens, it
would a first because the state has never won the title.
As
the new Miss Maryland, Colella gets a $10,000 scholarship.