There are always favorites during the Miss America pageant, and this year, Miss South Carolina 2015 Daja Dial seems to be the girl that viewers have taken a real shine to. With raven locks and a big smile, this Miss America hopeful is as bubbly as she is beautiful, and plenty of people are talking on Twitter to prove their adoration. The judges love her too — Dial has already won a preliminary swimsuit award for the competition — an honor that nets her a $1,000 scholarship. But besides the bikinis and beauty, who is Daja Dial?
Raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Dial was crowned Miss South Carolina last June. Prior to that, she was a cheerleader at both Clemson University and Dorman High School, according to Greenville Online. As far as academics go, Dial is taking a year off from school to fulfill her duties as Miss South Carolina. She’ll be finishing a degree in health administration when she returns to Clemson University’s hallowed halls. Dial is also a philanthropic wonder, earning a Duke of Edinburgh gold medal for raising the most money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals out of all of the Miss America contestants. Brains, beauty, and a heart of gold? Sounds like Dial will be a great competitor in her race to the crown.
Though Twitter adoration doesn’t count for much in the actual voting of the Miss America pageant (but wouldn’t it be nice if they updated the rules for this, American Idol-style?), it doesn’t matter much to Dial’s fans. They are singing her praises all over social media. She even has her own hashtag: #DollarsOnDial.
Does Dial have this Miss America in the bag? We'll just have to wait and see, but I (and all of these Twitter fans) sure are rooting for her!
Image: Ida Mae Astute/ABC
