Pageant runner-up thankful she didn't win

By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer

Kanoelani Gibson says she's glad to remain free to finish her studies at UH.

Miss Hawai'i, it turns out, is something of a conflicted contender for a beauty queen title. Her primary goal is completing her education — and she rarely has time to date. She says losing the Miss America crown may have been a blessing in disguise.

Gibson, first runner-up in September's Miss America contest, says the best part about losing the top spot is that she still gets to be in control of her life. The 22-year-old University of Hawai'i student, on leave from her job as a flight attendant for Hawaiian Airlines, now has enough scholarship money to stop worrying about how to pay for her studies to become a high-school math teacher and learning disabilities specialist.

We caught up with her once she returned from pageant duties in Atlantic City, N.J., and asked about the details:

Q. What was going through your mind on stage when Miss Florida Ericka Dunlap was named Miss America?

A. "Thank God!" I knew that if I was named Miss America that it was meant to be, and I would do it with my whole heart and put my whole self into it. (But) I felt that first runner-up was almost better for me. I still have the scholarship, and I can do what I want without having the constraints of Miss America.

Q. You seemed to present the image of "down-to-earth, local Hawai'i girl." Is that what you were going for?

A. I just wanted to present me, but at the same time I wanted to represent our state. It's hard to represent the aloha spirit in a three-hour broadcast over TV. It comes out in your eyes and your smile.

Q. After the competition, you said you weren't a pageant girl, you were a surfer girl. Who or what prompted you to compete in the first place?

A. I went back to school and I was never able to pay for it. A lot of people told me to go for the pageant. I never had the confidence or thought I had the right body. When I found out how much they offer in scholarships, I decided to do it. (She received $44,000 from the Miss America pageant alone.)

Q. You sing at New Hope Christian Fellowship. Have your religious views influenced the way you think about body image and even decide what to wear in the bathing suit competition? We noticed you wore a two-piece.

A. As far as bathing suit, not really. I don't know how to explain it. I mean, I was cautious of being modest, but that's part of the program. I think with the times today, a one-piece or two-piece is no big deal. It's not an issue. That's who I am. I'm a surfer.

Q. What do you do to keep fit?

A. Before Miss America, I went running in the morning, 7 miles a day. I also worked out with a trainer five days a week, weight training. He wanted me to do cardio twice a day. I usually took my dog (Molly) running and surfed when I could.

Q. People around my office said we had to ask you this: Do you have a boyfriend?

A. No, I don't.

Q. Do you even have time to date?

A. Maybe, it depends. (Laughs.)

Q. What was the best part about competing to be Miss America?

A. It was watching my family have so much fun. That was the first time my family was completely together on such a joyous occasion. (About 30 family members were there, including her dad and older sister, who live in Missouri, and her mom, who lives on Kaua'i.) They're still on a high. My sister just came out with a CD this week (Maila Gibson's contemporary Hawaiian album is called "More"), and we're all excited about that, too.

Reach Tanya Bricking at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8026.