In her first six months as Miss Wisconsin, Lila Szyryj has clocked sixteen thousand miles on the road. Most people assume that being “Miss Wis” is about glitz and glamor, but Szyryj’s day-to-day proves that it takes some grit to hold the role, too.
On January 14, Szyryj (the first Madison native and the first Chinese-American woman to hold the title)will represent Wisconsin in the Miss America pageant. As if preparing for the competition and keeping up with social media and public appearances doesn't keep her busy enough, she's also a morning reporter for WMTV 15.
“I get up around 2:30 [a.m.] and I’m in to work by 3:30. I do work until about 4:30, and then I drive to my live shot location,” says Szyryj (who posted this "day in the life" montage a few weeks ago). Once she’s done at work, she heads home to tackle Zoom meetings and other “admin work” (wardrobe lists, media requests and more) before getting ready for a Miss Wis appearance in the afternoon or evening. “That’ll be a few hours. Then, after that, I get caught up on social media. That’s kind of a typical day,” she says.
A twelve-hour-plus day isn’t exactly typical for most people — and there’s a lot more about Szyryj’s Miss Wis experience that defies popular stereotypes about pageants.
You’re halfway through your year as Miss Wisconsin. What are some of the moments that stand out?
We were at Farm Technology Days. As part of this huge event, a girl who was [eleven] years old was doing tricks on her ponies. She sees me in the crowd and asks if I want to be part of the show. I’m like, “Sure, I’ll stand there and clap. I’ll be part of the show.” She goes, “Do you want to try a trick?” and I was like, “I can’t say no.” So there’s a picture of me standing on top of two horses —one foot on one horse, one foot on the other, crown and sash on. That was a moment where I sat there and thought, “Yeah, you’re going to remember this one.”
Part of your role as Miss Wisconsin is your service project “Breaking Down Breaking News.” Why did you choose to focus on media literacy?
I’m a first-generation American. My mom immigrated from a place that is severely censored. There are no public libraries, there is no Google search. That’s where my family lives. To me, freedom of press is such an important thing. That’s why I became a journalist, and that’s how I give back.
Once you become a journalist, or once you start learning about it, you realize how many people don’t understand how it works, yet this is something that is in our lives constantly. You can never get away from it, but people don’t know what a good headline looks like, or how to recognize if a source is a good source. Journalism 101, basically, is my platform. When people can recognize [those things], they can hold journalists accountable. To me, the best thing I can do as a journalist is to give people the tools to hold me accountable.
How did you originally get into competing in pageants?
My parents got me into it. They looked into it and thought, “My daughter won’t talk in front of her class, she won’t raise her hand in school, she won’t even order food at a restaurant. We have to get her in something that’ll help her not be shy.” I fell in love with it, obviously. As a twelve-year-old, I thought it was so much fun ... 10 years later, here we are!
You’ve said that pageants started as a fun way to build confidence. How has your motivation for participating evolved since then?
Opportunity is the big word for all of this. My on-stage question [at Miss Wisconsin] was “If there weren’t scholarships, why would you be here?” The networking and the opportunities that you’re able to get … you wouldn’t get anywhere else. There is no other organization for young women that provides scholarships, creates career growth, interview skills, communication skills, poise and talent. There is nothing else that encompasses all of these things.
My boss saw an interview of me as Miss Wisconsin, and that was the reason that she offered me a job reporting for her. I was already working for her behind-the-scenes, and she knew what my goals were, and when she saw me as Miss Wisconsin in this interview, I had a new job offer. That's insane. I also wouldn't have met some of my best friends and mentors and teachers.
I think a lot of times people get the impression that pageants are cutthroat. In your experience in the Miss America system, has that been the case?
I love when people ask me that. People ask that because they know [the pageants] aren’t actually like that. As an example, my first runner-up [for Miss Wisconsin] was also my first runner-up at the local competition. She had been with me for the whole thing, she had been alongside me. Standing in top two with her, it was never even competitive. And afterwards, flowers were sent to my apartment from her family.
It is a community, it is a village. It’s actually not the girls that are catty. The girls are the ones that become your bridesmaids and your best friends because you’re sharing this lived experience that very few people can relate to. Of course, you get a couple bad eggs once in a while, but at the core, the women come together. The public can be really mean, other people can be really mean — the people that always get it are the women. If you want to see the support in the women in this organization, just watch the women behind the winner when she wins.
Another misconception (and I’m sure it’s not your first time hearing this, either) is that pageants are superficial beauty contests. What do you say to people when they ask about that?
The problem that I think we run into is that [the public] doesn’t see the ten-minute interview that happens in a private room with judges. That is the basis of the entire thing. That’s when [the judges] meet the person, that is when they speak to them about their goals and what they plan to do as a title holder. Frankly, [the judges] already know who this person is by the time they step on the stage. They don’t care what color your evening gown is or what style you chose. The “pretty” parts are for the women. I want to feel beautiful, I want to feel confident, I want to feel empowered. I chose the gown because I liked it. That’s the empowering part for us. Those staged parts are for the audience, for the viewers, for the entertainment — because let’s be honest, no one would watch a ten-minute interview.
What has it been like to balance your role as Miss Wisconsin with your career as a reporter?
I’ve started to really love the long hours. You kind of have to. Before I was Miss Wisconsin, I was in college. I was [a student] part-time, but I also had a full-time job and a part-time job. To me, though, that was getting me ready for something like this. If you really want to become Miss Wisconsin, you have to be ready to continue your career while being a full-time employee of the Miss Wisconsin organization. … Once I became Miss Wisconsin, I just so happened to have this new reporting job and so then I would start getting up at 2:30 in the morning. Sometimes my days wouldn’t end until 9 or 10 [p.m.], and that’s just how it is. It’s a year-long race to the finish line, and you do as much as you can and rest when it’s all over.
How are you feeling leading up to the Miss America pageant?
I think everything that I could possibly be feeling right now, I am. You go into it knowing that there are 50 other women who are just as qualified, just as smart, just as accomplished, just as well-spoken, just as talented — and any single one of us truly could be Miss America. It depends on the day, on what people are on the panel. It depends on many nuanced things that are out of my control. I’m steering my own path and trying to stay very clear-minded and at peace.
Anna Kottakis is digital editor at Madison Magazine.
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