A TikToker graduate and law student recently made history by becoming the first Asian-American woman to win the title of Miss Texas.
Averie Bishop of Carrollton, Texas, won the Miss Texas Beauty Contest Friday at the Eisemann Center in Richardson.
Bishop, 26, was the 85th winner of the competition and the first Asian-American woman to win the title, beating 40 other contestants. She will represent her state in the Miss USA pageant at a later date.
†Representation saves lives,” Bishop . said Narcity† “I’ve convinced myself for the longest time that I didn’t deserve to be Miss Texas because I never saw anyone like me represent our state.”
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Bishop, a Filipino American, took part in the nearly week-long competition, taking part in several interviews and winning the preliminary talent portion for her rendition of “On My Own” from the musical “Les Misérables”.
In a TikTok video of her performance, she told her more than 800,000 followers: “Fun fact: I originally majored in acting/music theater before transitioning to human rights and law school!”
Born and raised in the Texas suburb of McKinney in North Dallas, Bishop graduated from Southern Methodist University (SMU) Dedman School of Law as a first generation law student last month.
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A current member of Mayor Eric Johnson’s Anti-Hate Advisory Council, Bishop also served as a research assistant for SMU’s General Counsel, a Ronald Regan Presidential Foundation Fellow, a US Congressional Policy Fellow in Washington, DC, a University recipient Interscholastic Scholarship and The Texas Women’s Museum Winner Woman of the Year, as featured on her website†
Bishop, the daughter of an immigrant, co-founded The Tulong Foundation with her Filipino mother in 2015. goals of the non-profit organization is to help sponsor young students from isolated villages and provinces in the Philippines.
At the age of 19, the Miss Texas winner entered her first beauty pageant on the Miss Asian World circuit where she won the title of Miss Teen Asian American 2017. She competed in other competitions and was not only the first Asian American Miss. Texas, she was also the first Asian-American Miss Lufkin in 2019 and Miss Dallas in 2020.
Last year, Bishop was hired as a content developer for a TikTok learning education initiative. She uses the social media platform to connect with her users and discuss stigma within the Asian-American community.
Image via @averiebishop