Mohegan — The young women strode onto the stage Sunday and introduced themselves as representatives from their home states, but they also offered snapshot descriptions of their lives: a five-year volunteer firefighter, a seventh-grade teacher, someone interested in musical theater, someone studying to become a doctor.

This being the Miss America competition, they then showcased their talents and their ability to handle interviews.

The talent portion showcased a strikingly wide range of performances. One woman sang "Habanera" from the opera "Carmen." Another tap-danced to "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody." Yet another did a monologue from "One Tree Hill."

Miss Connecticut Sapna Raghavan, from Ellington, performed a classical Indian dance.

And they had to give a brief talk on their individual social impact initiatives, from literacy to environmental justice to supporting small businesses to championing children's hospitals, as well as answer questions from the judges on related subjects.

All the while, the audience members who packed the front of the Mohegan Sun Expo Center and Convention Center erupted in cheers for their favored contestant.

This is a milestone Miss America competition, marking 100 years. It's also the second time the event has been held at Mohegan Sun, following the 2019 debut there. (The 2020 competition was canceled because of the pandemic.)

The Miss America Organization has committed to holding at least two more competitions at the Sun after this year's.

This year's contest was gearing up Sunday with the preliminaries and will roll through various events, culminating in Thursday's finals. Those finals start at 8 p.m. inside Mohegan Sun Arena and will be broadcast on Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service. This marks the first year the event will stream live across all time zones.

There are 50 young women competing, minus Miss Maine, who reported on her Facebook page that she dropped out "due to contracting COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated and testing negative for COVID upon my arrival." A Miss America spokesperson confirmed in a statement that an unnamed contestant had to withdraw, adding, "While we are all disappointed by this development, the candidate will still be awarded her national scholarship and maintains her eligibility for any other scholarships that requires no further competition. The health and safety of our Miss America Organization staff, competitors, volunteers, sponsors and the Mohegan Sun community is paramount. We will continue to operate in accordance with all state, local and CDC guidelines."

Hitting a centennial

In an interview before Sunday's preliminaries, Shantel Krebs, president and chief executive officer of the Miss America Organization, said she thinks Miss America has lasted a century for a variety of reasons: It has been at the forefront of national trends and in discussing social issues, and it has changed with the times. It is also one of the oldest organizations to have provided scholarships for women.

"That was basis of the program, to empower women and to give them an opportunity and open doors for their careers and professional growth," she said.

The Miss America Organization awards a total of $5 million in scholarships each year, which includes those given out at state and local levels.

Krebs noted that the Miss America Organization doesn't refer to it as pageant anymore; it's a competition. Similarly, the young women aren't called contestants but candidates.

"They are competing for a (full-time) job ... and that job is very difficult. You have to prove you know and are aware of issues and you have a passion for a particular topic and that you can advocate and make sure that Americans understand that issue," Krebs said. "At the same time, (they need to) be compassionate and aware on all topics. So, is she real, is she relatable, is she relevant? That's what sets Miss America apart from all those others ... She is NOT a beauty queen."

Krebs is a former South Dakota secretary of state and former South Dakota Senate and House legislator, and she took over as head of the Miss America Organization in 2019 from Gretchen Carlson. (That position is unpaid.) Krebs was Miss South Dakota in 1997 and then competed in the Miss America pageant; she said she was "a fourth-generation farm girl" and the first in her family to attend college.

'That's kind of radical'

In a separate interview, current Miss America Camille Schrier likewise thought that the Miss America Organization's longevity had to do in large part with its willingness to adjust as women's culture changed.

"It's always been kind of cutting edge on where women are in our society and adapting with that. We think about the swimsuit change (when the swimsuit part of the competition was eliminated) in 2018 — kind of controversial, right? But to me, it felt like it was so refreshing to have an opportunity for women to not be judged on what they look like," Schrier said. "In our society right now, that's kind of radical. Versus in the 1920s, wearing a bathing suit in a competition was scandalous. Women would get arrested for not being covered properly on a beach. So those women were really making a huge statement. And now we're going to make a statement that you're not going to judge me on what I look like, and I'm still going to win Miss America. ... I think changes will be needed moving forward to continue to keep it relevant."

Miss America for two years

Since the 2020 competition was nixed because of COVID, Schrier continued her reign for a second year. She was in the middle of a Doctor of Pharmacy program at the Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Pharmacy when she won Miss Virginia and then Miss America, so she was intent on going back to school.

"I didn't want to take a third year away. Of course, the organization is so based on scholarships. I won about $77,000 in scholarship money. And I wanted to use it," said Schrier, who would like to work in the pharmaceutical industry eventually.

She did return to school, since, during 2020, she was able to do her Miss America work virtually and on more of a part-time basis.

Speaking about the pandemic, Schrier said, "I was the first Miss America to win doing a science demonstration for the talent (portion). When I did this in 2019, I felt like I kind of had to convince people why science was important. I don't have to do that anymore. So I think it's almost serendipitous that I happened to be a Miss America in the pharmaceutical industry during a year there was a pandemic. I feel like I was at the right place at the right time, just to be able to spread awareness and education."

Her time as Miss America has been hugely instructive, she said.

"This is a really demanding job. You learn how to take criticism from a public perspective in a way I've never encountered in my life. But when we think about going into a workplace, if you want to be a CEO of an organization, you're going to face that. So it really sets you in being in a public-facing role if that's what you'd like to do. But even if you're not, (it's important) being able to accept criticism, or being able to ignore criticism if it isn't valid."

She has become comfortable with the unknown, too. Miss America might think she is going to be doing one thing and end up doing something completely different — expect to walk around a cocktail party, say, but end up speaking onstage or doing an unanticipated media interview.

"Or there's a pandemic, and you have to figure out how to be Miss America from your house," she said with a laugh.

Schrier has also had to become adept at shifting gears. With her science background and her Miss America social impact initiative being about drug safety and abuse prevention, she might do science demonstrations with kids in the morning ("all fun, so exciting") and then spend the afternoon in a recovery center with people recovering from substance abuse.

It's also a tough schedule. Krebs pointed out that, in non-COVID years, Miss America usually travels to a new city every 36 to 48 hours.

The candidates gain so many skills during the process, and Krebs said that they will never have job interviews as tough as the ones they face as they vie to become Miss America.

"When you walk into a board room and are applying for a job, I can guarantee that candidate who competed in Miss America is going to get the job," she said.

k.dorsey@theday.com