Michele Handley will be representing the city as Miss Downtown Kirkland at the upcoming Miss Washington USA pageant Oct. 18-19.

Handley, a Lake Washington High School graduate, nursing student and hot yoga enthusiast, is currently studying to be a nurse and works for a software billing company. She first got involved in the pageant after being contacted by a recruiter. Initially, Handley said she was skeptical when she was told about the opportunity.

“A lot of times when people approach you about things that sound too good to be true, it turns out to be the case,” she said.

Eventually the recruiter convinced her when Handley viewed it as a great chance to improve her public speaking and interviewing, in addition to scholarship opportunities. Handley said she is also naturally competitive and saw it as a way to challenge herself and try something new.

During the rehearsals, she said it was a new experience to have to stand in six-inch heels for six hours, but at the same time relieved to find the atmosphere inviting.

“The biggest surprise the girls are very friendly and nice and nothing really cutthroat,” she said. “We’re all competing for the same award, but at the end of the day everyone is helping everyone else out to become a better person.”

At the workshops, the contestants worked on improving their interviewing skills while taking feedback from pageant officials on their posture, stance, and facial expressions.

“Smiling is always very important,” she said. “If you’re not smiling most of the time someone will think you’re not happy.”

As the interview during the pageant is one of the most important aspects of the competition, Handley said the contestants received a consistent word of advice from everyone, including the current Miss Washington USA.

“The most important thing that everyone has been constantly been saying is…to be the best you and not try to be anybody else or try to follow what anybody else does,” she said. “the reason why is there is only one you and you can’t be someone else. The best part is confidence. Are you going to be confident being someone else or being yourself.”

Another thing the pageant will focus on this year, Handley said, is promoting healthy lifestyles, which for her is doing hot yoga every day, a form of yoga done in rooms approximately 105 degrees.

“It is the one place that you can go if you have a busy stressful lifestyle, where you have an hour where you do not have to think about anything but your breath,” she said. “The second you hit the mat, nothing else exists. I also like being able to have flexibility.”

In addition to sponsors, Handley said her family has also been supportive and plan to attend the competition at Highline Performing Arts Center in Burien.

More information on the pageant can be found at www.misswashingtonusa.com.