Week 2: Safety Goggles & Stage Lights

 By Madalaina Hlava

What balancing STEM and pageantry really looks like.

I’ve had days where I’ve gone straight from a job site to pageant prep, with barely enough time to wipe the dust off my boots before slipping into heels. And you know what? Both moments required the same thing from me: confidence, focus, and the ability to adapt on the fly.

Balancing two drastically different worlds isn't about pretending. It's about showing up fully in both, and not shrinking to fit into either.

The Realities of Switching Gears
People love to ask me how I “do both,” but they often ask it like they’re waiting for me to admit it’s all a performance. Like surely one version of me must be real, and the other must be fake.

But here’s the truth: they're both real.

I’m the same person reviewing project specs that I am walking into a pageant interview. I don’t leave my leadership skills behind when I put on an evening gown, and I don’t lose my creativity when I wear a polo and boots.

Both roles challenge me in different ways, and both have made me stronger.

What They Don't See

They don’t see the preparation behind both.
The early mornings at work and the late nights practicing interview questions. Or vice versa.
The technical problem-solving and the poise under pressure.
The way I’ve had to earn respect twice: once for being a woman in a male-dominated field, and again for daring to embrace femininity in that space.

They see safety goggles or stage lights, not the woman who knows how to own both.

And for a while, I thought maybe I had to “pick a lane.” But I’ve learned that the very things people think disqualify me from one space are the exact things that make me powerful in the other.

What Pageantry Taught Me About STEM

It taught me how to hold eye contact. How to speak with intention. How to listen fully and respond clearly.

It taught me grace under pressure. A skill I’ve used just as often on a live mic as I have when troubleshooting a system failure.

It taught me how to walk into a room, command attention, and lead with purpose.

So no, I’m not just doing both for the aesthetics. I’m doing both because they make me better; more resilient, more versatile, more me.

To the Girl Trying to Balance Both

You don’t have to apologize for being multifaceted.
You don’t have to explain why you love STEM and still light up when you have the opportunity to dress up.
You don’t have to shrink or segment yourself to be taken seriously.

You just have to show up as you are. And trust that the right people will recognize your power.

Because there’s strength in your duality.
And whether you’re holding a powertool or a mic, you belong.

See you next week for Week 3: Too Pretty to Be an Engineer?
Where we’ll dig into the stereotypes and how we shatter them, one confident step at a time.

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Madalaina Hlava is the current Miss Land of Lincoln (IL). You can follow her on her title's Instagram.

To read her other guest blogs for Section 36 Forevers, click here.