She had never competed in a pageant before, but 22-year-old Kristen Tateishi didn’t let that keep her from winning this year’s Miss Seafair crown on Saturday, July 26.

Tateishi, who moved to Bellevue from Hawaii last year, will serve her title for the next year. She represented the city of Bellevue in the pageant.

She was selected based on her academic achievement, community involvement, public speaking and creative expression.

The Reporter chatted with Miss Seafair about her pageant experience and why she decided to go for it.

Reporter: Tell us about yourself.

Tateishi: I am currently a second-year law student at Gonzaga Law School after completing my degree from Chapman University in three years and with honors.

I also studied abroad and obtained a degree from Nanzan University in Japan while living there and learning the Japanese language.

After I complete law school I hope to become an attorney and dedicate 30 percent of my case load to pro bono work, focusing on child advocacy and representing children’s rights.

In my free time I like to dance. Hula dancing was my talent for the creative talent portion of the Miss Seafair competition. I’ve been hula dancing since I was 7.

Oh, and I also love to talk on the phone (laughs).

Reporter: What prompted you to focus on child advocacy?

Tateishi: I was walking around campus while an undergraduate and I saw a flyer. It wanted attorneys to go to countries like Cambodia and legally represent young girls in brothels and help children get out of inhumane situations.

That’s when I decided to go to law school to help children like that.

Reporter: Have you had any community involvement based on your career focus?

Tateishi: I was the outreach liaison for CHAD – a child advocacy group at Gonzaga. I’ve done fundraising for the organization and have helped bring in speakers to talk about child advocacy.

Reporter: Why did you decide you wanted to be Miss Seafair?

Tateishi: I have always been interested in running in a pageant, but I wanted to run in one that I felt adamantly about.

Miss Seafair is different than many pageants because it’s not just focused on beauty. It focuses on the well-rounded person: academics, public speaking – aspects that make a rounded individual and encourage you to get out in the community.

Reporter: As your first pageant, what was the most challenging part of the process?

Tateishi: It took a lot of preparation for the competition, which is a five-week program. I really enjoyed the whole program, but when I had to deliver a speech I would take it very seriously and practice my speech over and over until I got it perfect.

I knew I would be getting judged and I really wanted to win.

Reporter: What’s been the most rewarding aspect of the competition?

Tateishi: Miss Seafair really encourages community service. My platform was helping children, so I did community service at the Ronald McDonald House. I would go to the craft store, buy supplies and make crafts with the children during activity night.

It was so great because I really love children. It’s sometimes sad seeing the kids battling life-threatening diseases, but rewarding, too, as some of them couldn’t go outside and risk being exposed to germs, so I got to bring activities and fun to them.

It’s also rewarding just being a representative of Seafair and getting to meet new people. These are all exemplary young women and it was great to be among them and listen to all their goals and aspirations.

We did parades over the summer as Seafair princesses, and it was so fun to sit on the back of corvettes and wave to people.

Reporter: What sorts of Seafair activities will you be involved in this year?

Tateishi: I’m in the middle of a media tour right now and fleet week. All the fleets came in to town and we’ve been going to receptions all week meeting admirals, commanders and Blue Angel pilots.

I’ve made some appearances in parades and soon I’ll get to go on a Seafair cruise with persons with disabilities.

Next summer, I’ll do the Seafair Scholarship Program with the new candidates and support them through the competition phase. I really look forward to that.

Reporter: What would you like to accomplish as Miss Seafair?

Tateishi: I’m trying to make a lot of connections right now. I went to a reception recently and there were mayors and senators there and hopefully I’ll be able to make those connections and use my position as Miss Seafair to advance my platform to better protect the rights of children.

Reporter: How do you feel about winning the title?

Tateishi: God has really blessed me. All 11 girls are exemplary and any one of them could have done what I get to do. A lot of emphasis has been put on the winner, but I believe all the girls were winners too.

Carrie Wood can be reached at cwood@reporternewspapers.com or 425-453-4290.

For more information about the Seafair Scholarship Program for Women, visit www.seafair.com/events/scholarship.