Mines student Paige Bowling is one of 22 women running for the title of Miss Colorado June 9-11. She is pursuing degrees in chemical and biochemical engineering, and biochemistry. Bowling chose the competition as a way to raise scholarship funds for the extra year she will be attending Mines to complete both degrees.
At Mines, Bowling serves as the marketing director and regional officer (for the 20 sections) in the Society of Women in Engineering, and will be running under the platform of women in science and engineering for Miss Colorado.
“There is a very common stigma about women who chose to follow a career path in anything science or engineering related which perpetuates gender inequalities,” said Bowling. “If you ask a young girl what she wants to be when she grows up, over time many girls will shift their focus from grand career paths to something based upon gender-normative stereotypes. My ultimate goal is to not only promote young girls to continue on a path focused on math and science, but to also promote education to everyone. To do this, I hope to expand the current science and engineering resources available to schools for everyone, but especially young girls.”
Since she was a freshman, Bowling has been working with professor Brian Trewyn to synthesize mesoporous silica (MCM-141) for chemotherapy research and new fluorine imaging techniques to be used at hospitals within the next five years. Bowling also works as a Mines Help Desk operator, after taking over the role from her brother, Garrett, who graduated from Mines in December 2014 with a mechanical engineering specialty degree. She is a certified personal trainer at the Student Recreation Center and a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
This week, Bowling will have an interview before competing in the evening gown, swimsuit and 90-second talent portions of the competition. While most of the women will be doing music or dance routines, Bowling’s talent will be poi spinning. Poi is a performance art and typically involves swinging objects that have various rhythmical and geometric patterns. In a dark room, Bowling will be spinning LED lights that change color every 10 seconds.
Miss Colorado is a scholarship organization and women must be currently a Colorado resident and enrolled at a university. If Bowling wins the Miss Colorado title on Saturday, she will advance to compete in the Miss America competition in September. To support Bowling, follow her Facebook page. The deadline to vote for Bowling as the People’s Choice Vote is June 10.
Contact:
Kathleen Morton, Digital Media and Communications Manager, Colorado School of Mines | 303-273-3088 | kmorton@mines.edu
Jake Kupiec, Executive Director of Communications and Marketing, Colorado School of Mines | 303-273-3067 | kupiec@mines.edu
