The next contestant to be featured as part of our series, “The Road to Miss Massachusetts’s Outstanding Teen 2018” is Amber Ferreira. Continue reading to learn more about Amber and her journey to the crown!

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For those who may not be familiar with you, tell our readers a bit about yourself and your background within the pageant world.
Hello! My name is Amber Ferreira, and Miss Massachusetts’s Outstanding Teen will be my second pageant, after the Miss Fall River’s Outstanding Teen pageant in January. I am a 16-year-old student at Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River, and I am currently taking both honors and AP courses. I am involved in my school’s theatre department, along with our choir, and I have been since my Freshman year.

The four points of the Miss America crown represent: service, scholarship, style, and success. Which one is the most important to you and why?
Personally, I find service to be the most important point. This is because I am a firm believer in donating spare time or resources to those that are less fortunate, and I hope to spend my summer volunteering at local animal shelters.


During Carly Fisher’s reign, what is one characteristic you’ve seen her bring forth as Miss  Massachusetts’s Outstanding Teen, and which do you hope to emulate if you were to win the title?
Carly is a very kind and genuine individual, and it is quite evident that she has made a huge impact on many people and organizations, including the Children’s Miracle Network, which she raised over $21,000 for, earning her the Miracle Maker award at Nationals. I would aspire to make that much of an impact on the lives of the people I met if I were to win the title.

What have you learned from our current Miss Massachusetts Outstanding Teen, Carly Fisher, that can help you be a better outstanding teen?
I have learned that pageantry is about more than just winning titles, it is about the experiences that you have and the people that you meet. At orientation for states, it was quite evident that through her year of being Miss Massachusetts Outstanding Teen, she was given many opportunities to meet many amazing people and she made lifelong connections through the national pageant.


Please share with our readers your platform and why you’ve chosen to advocate for it.
I have chosen to advocate for Animal Welfare, and this is important to me because thousands of innocent animals die per year due to animal cruelty. Most of these animals are dogs, including many American Staffordshire Terriers, or Pitbulls, that are forced to fight for their lives in dog-fighting rings. This not only gives the dogs a bad name, but also kills many innocent dogs that just so happened to have terrible owners. There are also many cases of animal cruelty within puppy mills, where female dogs are bred until they can no longer breed, and many of them end up dying due to complications with their internal organs. This is why I also advocate for adopting from animal shelters. This does not mean that all breeders are bad, because there are many that treat their dogs well and take quite good care of them. I just personally see that there are many beautiful dogs and cats alike in shelters that would fit perfectly into any home, and are completely healthy, but they do not end up being adopted because they are not a pure breed, or they are “too old”, and I’d like to enlighten people of the benefits of adopting a rescue animal. I’ve seen the statistics stating that over a million completely healthy animals are euthanized a year, and I aim to help people realize that the number could go down. I personally have both a rescue dog and a rescue cat, and throughout my life I have always had rescues, and I’ve loved them all dearly.

If you were to win the title of Miss Massachusetts’s Outstanding Teen, how do you hope to better educate your generation about your platform and the importance it holds?
I hope to help people in my generation realize that they have the ability to give these helpless creatures a voice, and that if they see anything that seems like it may be dangerous to an animal’s well-being, they have the ability to make a change. I also would like to encourage them to consider volunteering for local shelters, because even if they cannot adopt, they can help to make the animals feel more at home at the shelter before they find their forever homes.

Tell us about your talent and the decisions you made in proceeding with this talent.
I will be singing and playing ukulele as my talent. The song I will be performing is entitled “Once Upon A December” and it is from the movie Anastasia, which was a favorite of mine growing up. I even had a teddy bear that I named Anastasia, and I still have her now. I have been playing the ukulele since March of 2014, and I started playing because I thought the ukulele was a beautiful instrument, and after seeing some of my favorite musicians playing it (such as Tyler Joseph or Twenty One Pilots and Dodie Clark), I decided to give it a try and have been playing ever since.


Having been in pageants and after winning a local title, what advice do you have for those who want to start competing in the MAO system?
Though I have not won any titles as of now, this will be my second pageant, and I have learned a thing or two after competing in my first. I was quite nervous before my first pageant, as I had never seen myself competing in one. But, after competing, I can say that it is most definitely an experience that you will never forget! I made a few friends that I can see myself talking to for years to come, and that in itself made the experience worth it for me. Also- Practice, practice, practice! Looking over videos of both fitness and opening routines can be a lifesaver, and it will make everything much easier on the day of the pageant.

Because of the way media and certain television networks have portrayed the lifestyle of pageantry, there is a preconceived notion of what a pageant girl is like. How do you think that being a part of the Miss America Organization you are able to break that barrier?
Pageantry is nothing like television portrays it. You do not need to be tall, skinny, or anything of the sort, you just have to be yourself and show not only the judges, but everyone that you meet along the way that you are unapologetically you. The main part of pageantry is not beauty, but rather willpower, and an ability to show the world what you’ve got and not be afraid to be yourself. Personally, I’m not athletic by any means, I’m more likely to be found reading a book than to be caught near any sort of exercise equipment. I’m by no means a model, either, but I will smile for the camera if anything cute is put in front of me (Such as a cat, dog, bearded dragon, etc.)

Regardless of who wins the title of Miss Massachusetts’s Outstanding Teen, what is one goal which you have for them, which you hope they will accomplish during their reign?
Whoever wins, regardless of who it may be, I just hope that they make the most of their year, making as many appearances and meeting as many people as their heart desires. I hope that they are able to promote their platform as much as they would like to, and I wish them good luck at the national level.

Bravura is an artistic word for exceptional. Tell our readers what make you “bravura.”
Personally, I believe what makes me “bravura” is my ability to tackle each new day with a positive outlook. I try not to dwell on the past, and think more about the future and where it may bring me. I have a very heavy focus on theater and music, and I hope that I am able to integrate that into my life, along with becoming a veterinarian. I take every opportunity I have to experience new things, and I’m not afraid to get up on stage and burst into song, even if it is just the words “What am I to do?” repeated over and over again, as it was in my last theater production.

Where can fans follow you on social media?
Instagram: @wayliens.exist, and YouTube: frankle dankle.

Do you have any final words for the readers of Bravura Magazine?
To those who are considering participating in a pageant at any point in the future: do it! It’s 100% worth it, and the experience is like none other. Also, I would like to say good luck to the other members of the Fierce Fifteen!