Reagan grad to compete in Miss Texas USA pageant

A 2005 graduate of Reagan High School will compete for the title of Miss Texas USA this weekend.  Amber Calderon, 23, will join about 98 other women from across Texas in the pageant at Houston’s Crowne Plaza Hotel Reliant Park Sept. 4-5.  The winner will go on to compete in the next Miss USA pageant. 

“Just to be a part of this organization in any way at all is an honor,” says Calderon. 

A relative newcomer to the pageant world, Calderon began competing four years ago at the urging of her mother, a former beauty queen herself. “I was like a lot of girls going through high school and college” suffering from low self-confidence, she says.  “My mom thought it would be a really great opportunity to raise my self-esteem.”

Along with boosting her confidence level and interviewing skills, Calderon has also gained newfound respect for her fellow contestants, many of whom are balancing college courses, jobs and charity work.  “We’re really just friends,” she says.  “I think pageant girls get a bad reputation, that we’re caddy.  But, when it comes down to it we’re just girls who are beautiful and smart and we all really just want to make a difference.” 

As an education major at Texas State University, Calderon will use her pageantry to promote organizations that improve the health and well-being of children, although she is particularly passionate about the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Calderon earned her spot in the Miss Texas competition after winning the Miss San Antonio Texas pageant on May 1 of this year.  In that competition she also won the title of Miss People's Choice, Miss Photogenic and Miss Best in Evening Gown. 

She first competed in the Miss Texas USA contest in 2008, but did not fare too well at that time given it was her very first pageant.  However, "it was the opportunity of a lifetime," Calderon says, adding that the pageant allowed her to practice being on stage. 

The daughter of Masquerade DJ owner Ernest Calderon, Amber Calderon will be supported by many friends and family members who will make the trip to Houston to cheer her on this weekend.  “They have all been so supportive in helping me achieve my dreams.”