2006-2007 Orange Book: Internet Directory
Miss Borrego Springs -- Hanna Houk

Miss Borrego Springs -- Hanna Houk

Hanna Houk, 18, was chosen Miss Borrego Springs on Oct. 29 from among nine contestants.

The daughter of Donna & Brian Murray, Miss Houk has lived in Borrego for six years.

She does well in scholastic subjects and is taking three AP classes: AP English, AP Calculus and AP Chemistry. She maintains a 4.0 grade average and would like to attend UCSD. She plans to major in animal physiology or biology so that she can pursue a career in veterinary medicine.

Extra-curricular activities include the cheerleading squad, where she is captain this year and the high school golf team, where she is in her fourth year and hits in the 50s.

She also loves drama and dance. She has been dancing for two years and participating in community theater for six. She has appeared in Born Yesterday, Man of La Mancha, Caberet and done numerous monologues.

She is also ASB athletic coordinator, helping to schedule games and ASB events.

Miss Houk is also president of the Key/Interact Club. This club holds fund-raisers for local and national projects. Last year they held a fashion show that raised money for the children’s center and for a water filter for a poor village in India.

Also as part of her community work, Miss Houk is a fifth grade counselor for camp at Borrego State Park, three days of hiking and adventures with wildlife.

Also president of the AVID club, Miss Houk takes part in various fund-raisers to raise money for educational field trips.

When she entered the Miss Borrego Pageant she saw it as a fun thing to do with her fellow senior girls, some of whom she hadn’t really talked to since their freshman year. “When you get into high school you don’t spend as much time with your class,” she said. “This was a fun way to interact before we graduate. It was a blast. We got a lot closer, There were so many jokes behind stage. It was a great learning experience.”

Although she had had experience acting on the stage, Miss Houk found that the pageant helped her to develop her skills at public speaking. “On stage you are playing someone who is not you. Here you are just being yourself. I couldn’t pretend to be something I wasn’t.”

On the night of the pageant, although she is not the type to get nervous, she became very, very nervous. “But after doing the dance segment I f ound I was looking forward to the question and the rest of the pageant,” she recalled.

One little incident added drama to the evening. Right before appearing in formal wear she had water spilled on her dress. She had to dry it out with a hand dryer before going on stage.

That evening she talked about her life experience of losing her dad when he was 39 years old. “Because of his sudden death I’ve learned not to take life for granted and to take any opportunity that comes my way.”

In February Miss Houk took an educational tour of Europe with the Literature Club, visiting Greece and Italy. Her group went to Pompei, Rome, Naples, Delphi, the Acropolis and the Coleseum.