A night after being crowned Miss Oregon, Abigail Hoppe “finally got some sleep.”
The next day, “it feels real,” she told the Portland Tribune.
Being Miss Oregon will take some getting used to, but Hoppe will try her best as she prepares for the Miss America contest.
“The whole week I had overwhelming feeling of calm,” said Hoppe of her Miss Oregon experience, which culminated with her winning Saturday, June 29 at the competition in Seaside. “I was in the moment, which is what I love so much, and it’s funny how you end up where you need to be at the right time.
“I was so happy regardless of the outcome. A very settled feeling. When I heard my name, my heart was overwhelmed with joy. It came to fruition.”
The “it” being a quest that she started after not being a part of such pageants in about eight years. At age 17, Hoppe won Miss Oregon Outstanding Teen. “I took a break, and forgot how much fun it was. I was beyond thrilled to be back.”
Hoppe, 25, said that the 2023 Miss Oregon, Allison Burke, convinced her to compete in Miss Oregon again. So it was with happiness that Burke crowned Hoppe as Miss Oregon in Seaside.
From Salem and a Linfield University graduate, and now an elementary school teacher in McMinnville, Hoppe competed as Miss Three Rivers in the Miss Oregon competition. She performed Latin Jazz Dance as her talent. Her community service platform was “Making Type 1 Diabetes Feel Like Type None Diabetes.” As a Miss Oregon contestant who now qualifies for Miss America, she’s raising money for the American Heart Association “Go Red for Women” campaign.
She’s a Type 1 diabetic, so her platform is important to her.
“It’s important to do everything I can do to impact lives of those affected,” she said. “You’re now seeing more and more children and younger adults being diagnosed with Type 1. It’s an autoimmune disease that can show up at any time.”
For being named Miss Oregon, Hoppe wins a $15,000 scholarship and a prize package worth more than $150,000 in awards and gifts.
The runners-up were Emily Kaelani Redling (Lane County), Mya Joyce (Portland Metro), Sarah White (Emerald Valley) and Allyssa Defillipo (Klamath County).
The new Miss Oregon’s Outstanding Teen is Kendyl-Rae Bartz (Douglas County Teen), who also stood on stage as Hoppe was named Miss Oregon.
Hoppe, who works at Grandhaven Elementary School in McMinnville, is transitioning into being an online teacher for the 2024-25 school year, and is planning to study for her master’s in education, using Miss Oregon scholarship money.
She will turn her attention to Miss America — the competition will likely be in January 2025. Hoppe looks forward to competing at Miss America; she and her mother had always wanted to attend Miss America, “and now she can go and watch me.” Hoppe and her mother have long watched the Miss America contest on TV, calling it “our version of the Super Bowl.”
In the meantime, Hoppe was busy responding to well-wishers and congratulatory notes via text and social media.
“I feel a little bit famous,” she said.
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