Kovena: Rags to riches

By JUAN ESPARZA LOERA / Vida En El Valle
(Published Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 09:05AM)

FRESNO -- Kovena Avila has lived in poverty, works three jobs to help her mother and two younger siblings, drives a beat-up Honda with a window that won't roll all the way up, got in trouble with drugs during her junior year at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School, and never imagined a world existed outside her hometown of Solvang.

If the 20-year-old Santa Bárbara City College student can use one word to describe herself, it would be "blessed."

Avila -- who was crowned Miss Santa Bárbara in her first-ever pageant last October -- felt right at home alongside 54 other Miss California pageant hopefuls last week during the four-day competition at the Saroyan Theatre.

She didn't win the crown, that honor went to Miss Hollywood, Jacqueline Geist, 22.

She didn't get to showcase her mechanic skills for her talent ("You can't put an engine on stage," she smiled), but she did a powerful performance of the pop song 'Reflection' as a tribute to her best friend who was killed by a drunk driver two Christmases ago.

She didn't have the most expensive evening wear (she found her gown on E-Bay for $100), but her million-dollar smile melted hearts.

Her father traveled by train and bus (she paid the "50 bucks for his Greyhound ticket") to see his "daddy's girl" compete, while other contestants had their entire families present. "I could have been wearing a $20 dress and if he's out there, I will do my best," she said.

And, when they headed back home in her Honda, Avila drove both of them home, "stick shift and heels."

If Avila has her way, the Miss California pageant hasn't seen the last of her.

"You'll see me here until I age out," said Avila Saturday night after she was named Miss Congeniality by fellow contestants. She also made sure she lined up new-found friends like Miss San Mateo County Ruth González to sing for her not-yet-scheduled wedding ("I'm not even engaged yet!" Avila exclaims), along with a violinist (Miss Sonoma County Sara Choi), piano player and others.

Not bad for a woman who remembers as a sixth-grader how she sneaked at a Miss America pageant on television when she was supposed to be sleeping in the fifth-wheel trailer her family lived in at the time.

"I was watching them, and most of them were Caucasian, a lot of them had blonde hair, and they all looked like a million bucks," said Avila during an interview last week. "I didn't have anything in my closet that looked like that. And I never, ever tried to mock them with the wave or the walk because I never thought we were the same people."

Today, Avila is one of them, although her road almost took her in the wrong direction.

"In high school, you really can't fit in with people who are gifted financially. You can't really fit in with them by having the cool new shoes or the cool nice car," she said. "It is hard to get into that group."

There were the bad kids who were "more than happy to have you, and I think in high school I made the wrong decision." Her parent's separation didn't help either.

She got caught with drugs, and had to attend an early intervention program for first-time offenders. She now volunteers for that program, telling young teens with similar experiences that they can turn their lives around.

"I want to reach out to those kids, those poor kids who think they don't even have a chance, who thought like me, who didn't think we were even the same people, and show them I am the same as you. You can do this," she said. "I want to put hope in people's lives, and spread that hope to parents also."

Encouraged by a fellow student, Avila ditched school one day in her senior year to take a math and English placement test at Santa Bárbara City College. That is when she decided college was in her future. First, she had to look for the money. That's where she found out about the Miss Santa Bárbara pageant.

"All I knew was that, 'Oh, like I need money,'" said Avila. The pageant gave scholarships to every participant, so Avila figured she'd try it out.

"The first day when I pulled up in my Honda, I pulled up next to this girl who had a brand new BMW," she said. "I thought, 'What am I doing here?'"

She stuck it out and was won the crown.

Eduardo Avila, her father who works as a handyman and shares his love of cars with her, is convinced his daughter is meant for bigger and better things.

"I think it is great," he said about watching his daughter.

Win or lose, he said earlier in the week, his daughter is a winner. "She told me, 'Dad, if I don't win, maybe they are not ready for me.' I told her, if you fall down, you get back up."

Kovena (who was named after the city of West Covina) said the pageant has made her more mature. "It has made me grow. I know who I am now. I know what I want," she said.

What she wanted the day after the pageant ended was Fruit Loops. Too much healthy food during the pageant, she said.

Miss San Mateo County Ruth González is no stranger to the pageant. The 22-year-old hospitality management major at California State University, San José competed two years ago. Saturday night, she won the talent award for non-finalists for her rendition of 'Adle's Laughing Song.'

She developed an interest in pageants when she was a 17-year-old high school senior. Her vocal teacher, a former Miss Santa Clara, encouraged her to participate for the scholarship money and for the experience as a vocal performer.

"The pageant went very well," said González. "I received a $500 scholarship for participating, and a $200 talent award scholarship."

The Miss California pageant has transformed her, she said.

"The first time in 2006, I was able to reflect on how much I had grown from a 17-year-old girl into a 20-year-old woman," said González, who said the hardest part of the pageant is lack of sleep. "And now that I am here again, it is amazing to see how much has happened in the last two years since I was last here."

The scholarship money is a major attraction, she said.

"My family has always been encouraging me to go to college, and doing it in a way that will leave me more financially stable," said González.

Miss La Verne Jéssica Ortega, 21, is a speech communications major at the University of La Verne, where she is the catcher on the softball team.

"I did my first pageant in 2007 and won Miss Congeniality," she said. "I thought, 'Hey, this is kind of fun!' I did it in 2008, and I wanted to win."

Her older sister, Leticia Rodríguez, was a previous Miss La Verne contestant and introduced her to the pageant life by bringing her along for rehearsals.

Ortega said softball and the pageant are complete opposites to prepare for because softball is a team sport and the pageant is more individualized. "However, there will be other girls (in the pageant) that you want to support, and be friendly," she said.

Her only complaint this year at the Miss California pageant is the dance portion.

"I'm horrible at dancing. That's the hard part," she said. "Other than that, I am comfortable."

Send e-mail to: jesparza@vidaenelvalle.com