ISU Bengal Dancer, Miss Idaho Heads to Miss America Contest

Madi Andreason, a senior at ISU and Bengal Dancer, plans to graduate in 2025 with bachelor's degrees in political science and paralegal studies, and was crowned Miss Idaho in June this year. She’ll head to Florida for the Miss America pageant at the end of December, with the final competition taking place January 5, 2025. For those hoping to cheer on Andreason and Idaho in the contest, look for more information on YouTube as the event draws near. 

“You’re not just going on stage, you’re talking on stage, you’re performing a talent, and it’s just as much about what you’re not doing on stage. It’s about how you go out in your community and help people and I don’t think that’s ever something that can be overrated or stereotypical,” says Andreason.

There are 52 contestants this year, with Puerto Rico being added for the first time. 

“It’s been a big shift and I’ve been more open in my interviews about things I want to talk about and there’s a lot more genuinity that is brought to pageants now,” Andreason adds about the rigor in the competition. 

Andreason keeps a rigid schedule as a member of the Bengal Dancers and  multiple public appearances per week as Miss Idaho, on top of her double major. Through it all though, she says she wouldn’t know what to do without the Bengal Dancers. She greatly enjoys performing and being active. So much so in fact, that she plans to audition for an NFL dance team following her time at ISU. However, Andreason is headed to law school after that. 

“I did debate throughout high school and so I’ve always been interested in law and conversations about law,” Andreason explains. “ I’m really glad we do have paralegal studies because it’s a little bit more focused on how you apply that kind of work to a workplace, rather than just the essential concepts of law. I feel like I really have a good head start going into law school.”

Andreason says her time working as an intern for a law firm focused on domestic violence cases and her political science coursework related to current events has directly impacted her confidence in responding to questions on and off the pageant stage. 

A large part of the Miss America experience includes community service. Andreason’s initiative is called Get Up and Get Out, which encourages health and fitness at any age, for anybody and any body. 

“I get to go into elementary schools and talk about fitness. I’ve also talked with Congressmen in Utah about passing legislation to make healthy foods easier to access because healthy food is really expensive,” she says. “I like to incorporate all aspects of fitness because there’s a negative culture around fitness that you either under-exert or over-exert your body and I want people to find that happy medium of doing it to a point where it’s not a chore but it’s something fun they can do.”

The initiative also included planning a 5K fun run in November, called Run Wild, to raise funds for the American Heart Association. The “Miss” for each state raised $3000 for the AHA, for a total of nearly $160,000. 

If chosen as Miss America, Andreason says it’s going to be a whirlwind experience. She has been advised to be prepared to be on a plane every 48 hours, as she will be traveling all around America. 

“I really want to promote Fit Folk Friday - fly around the country and visit older living communities and talk about fitness, healthy minds and healthy bodies even as we age,” Andreason adds. “I have a 97-year-old grandmother and it’s easy to talk about fitness with younger kids and people my age but I want to bring accessible fitness for mind and body to her generation as well.”

Andreason explains that college wasn’t in the picture until she competed in teen pageants and Miss Idaho. She was able to attend college because of the scholarships she was awarded, and her time at ISU has been positive. 

“ISU is a big enough campus that you get a good experience but small enough that you know a lot of people,” she adds.

As for those who may be considering pageantry, Andreason says she encourages people to go for it. 

“You have so many opportunities. I am in college because of Miss Idaho. I was able to get scholarships and not only that, because my service project is fitness related, it pushes me to serve and make a lot of different connections in the community.”