Pageant winner sings a new song as graduate

Beagle has participated in plays and operatic performances at YSU.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Amanda Beagle is used to walking across stages wearing evening gowns. But on Saturday, she couldn't have been happier wearing a cap and gown.
A contestant in the Miss Ohio beauty pageant for the past two years, Beagle received a bachelor's degree in vocal performance during Youngstown State University's summer commencement last Saturday at Beeghly Center.
Beagle, 23, of Warren, plans to attend graduate school and hopes to become a professional opera singer.
"My future is an open book; it hasn't been written yet," she said.
Although the future is still open, it is Beagle's past that has made her into the woman she is today.
An early start
The daughter of Gerald and Anna Marie Beagle, she has been singing and performing since age 2. She used to dress up in a Mexican hat, suede vest and wooden shoes and parade in front of her family, singing and dancing. One day, she even told her parents to get her a talent agent.
"My parents used to call me an off-key country singer," Beagle said, laughing. "It was awful. Somewhere along the line, there was a sound there that was pleasing to the ears."
Beagle's ambition to perform led her to dance lessons when she was 8. She later became involved in school plays and community theater. Beagle originally wanted to pursue musical theater in college, but changed her mind after seeing a YSU Dana Vocal Music Performance clinic at her high school.
At YSU, she has participated in plays and operatic performances including "The Old Maid and the Thief" and "The Gondoliers."
Pageant successes
It wasn't until two years ago that Beagle started getting involved in pageants, starting with Miss Summit County 2002.
"To my surprise, I ended up winning my very first pageant," she said.
From there, Beagle went on to the Miss Ohio pageant, where she placed in the top 10. This June, Beagle again competed in the Miss Ohio pageant, qualifying as Miss North Coast, and was first runner-up. She plans to compete again next year.
In her two years of competing in pageants, Beagle has won nearly $11,000 in scholarship money that she plans to use for graduate school in fall 2004.
For now, she will continue to study voice and teach voice lessons at the James Dance and Performing Arts Center in Howland. She also plans to remain active in the Students Motivated by the Arts program, which offers arts education to inner-city children.