Emilie Madeline Belle Seng is a smiley, bright-eyed, girly-girl who lives her life at one speed...busy! Filled with enough ambition for five, Emilie is on a mission. To someday wear the hallowed sash that most little girls only dare to dream about...Miss America! But before she recieves the tear-soaked sash, tiara, roses and hugs from the runner-ups, Emilie is all to familiar with the hard work it takes to get there.

See, Emilie is entered in the Miss Missouri Pre-Teen Pageant to be held August 5-7 at Hyatt Union Station in St. Louis, Missouri. The pageant is held for girls ages four to eighteen, in five age groups. Emilie is entered in the 7-9 year old age group and representing Lincoln County. Emilie has many well-wishers, including a supportive family, an adoring community and two very best friends who will be competing with her.

"Emilie approached me a few months ago with mail we had received about the pageant. I was very reluctant because of the reputation some pageants have. She was very excited about it and really wanted to do the pageant, so I told her I would look into it. After reading more into it and found out they only judge on natural beauty and don’t allow all the make-up I decided it would be a good experience for her to boost self confidence, learn new skills, and meet new people. I always support both my daughters in anything they want to do, as long as it is something they really enjoy doing and don’t feel like they have to do it.”

—Danielle Seng

Emilie is a very good student and loves school. This year, Emilie will be attending 5th grade at Claude Brown Intermediate. Last year she attended Boone Elementary and passed with A’s and B’s. Emilie also enjoys dancing, tumbling, swimming, camping, and spending time with family and friends.
She attends Midwest Dance Explosion and takes a variety of classes, including: Point Ballet, Lyrical, Irish Step Dancing, and tumbling. Emilie will be performing an Irish Step routine for the pageant, taught by Heather Reibel. The pageant awards age-appropriate scholarships, prizes and awards. The winner will receive a cash award, crown, banner and a chance to compete in the national pageant at Disneyland in California.

Emilie’s dream when she grows up is to be a zoologist and work with the big cats at the zoo, or to be a veterinarian like her “hero,” Dr. McCann of the Animal Medical Center in Troy. He’s been a wonderful vet for the family pets, but Emilie was especially touched by his kindness, admiring everything he had done for her cat Shiloh and his bout with leukemia. The influence adults have on children is amazing as exposed in an essay that Emilie had written on a school assignment to describe who her "hero" was. Then again, it’s amazing the influence children make on adults by the effect that the essay had when she presented it to Dr. McCann. This experience has made her love for animals even stronger and may have even influenced her career choice.