Madison Gesiotto, a fourth-year political science major, had her crowning moment on November 9^th when she was named Miss Ohio USA 2014. For Madison, it was a dream come true. During her childhood Madison trained as a figure skater hoping to one day make it to the Olympics. Unfortunately, after several injuries she decided to retire from figure skating. After some encouragement from her younger sister and mom, Madison decided to begin competing in pageants. In her very first pageant, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival Pageant, she was selected as a member of the court and had the opportunity to escort Dick LeBeau when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2012, Madison entered the Miss Ohio USA pageant and was named third runner-up. The experience taught her a lot and helped her prepare for this year’s pageant.

Upon returning home, Madison began training with elite pageant coaches from around the country including renowned pageant coach and attorney Bill Alverson, who has coached 2013 Miss America Nina Davuluri and 2012 Miss America Mallory Hagan as well as elite trainer Josh Rogers, who has coached prior Miss USA winners. One of the major components of the pageant competition is the question round where a question, written by the judges, is drawn at random from a bowl, and the contestant is given 30 seconds to answer. This allows the judges to rank the women and determine the winner from the final five contestants.

Throughout all of her pageant experiences Madison has expressed how important her background in political science has been for her success especially during the question round. In this year’s Miss Ohio USA pageant, she was asked a question about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as “Obamacare”, its effect on young Americans. She said the classes at Ohio State and her time working on campaigns in Ohio helped prepare her to answer the questions.

"Being a political science major at The Ohio State University has provided me with unlimited resources and opportunities to expand my political knowledge throughout my undergraduate education. The Department of Political Science at Ohio State has proved itself to be one of the most valuable components of my pageant preparation due to the knowledge, resources, and hospitality that it has provided me with during my time as a political science major. I credit this fabulous program for my ability to be well versed on such a large variety of political issues affecting my world today."

She hopes to use her year as Miss Ohio USA to spread political awareness in Ohio’s public schools while educating the nation on the importance of access to learning and the lack of political involvement that currently exists among our youth. After her time as Miss Ohio USA she plans to attend law school where she wants to focus on contracts as they specifically relate to sports and entertainment. We look forward to watching Madison’s journey and we wish her the best as she competes for Miss USA this spring.

NBC4i recently interviewed Madison about her pageant experience and her goals for the next year. Click on the video below to find out more: