TL20071022-01 "Oct. 22, 2007 www.thetowerlight.com Now on TheTowerlight.com: Voice your opinion by participating in the online poll and posting comments on articles... Competing for the crown Senior Lia Zervos prepares to participate in Miss Maryland 2008 as a finalist Kristofer Marsh/The Towerlight Senior Lia Zervos is a finalist in the Miss Maryland USA pageant. Zervos, an electronic media and film major, has competed in pageants since 2003. She will be competing in the pageant Nov. 2, 3 and 4. Nick Di Marco Staff Writer Eyes up. Back straight. With each step, place one foot directly in front of the other. For Lia Zervos, a finalist in the Miss Maryland USA pageant, these simple steps for practicing a proper walk are on her mind each day as she walks from class to class, up and down Towson�s hills in heels. Zervos, who works for the campus TV sta-tion WMJF, has been involved in pageant work since her senior year of high school. �It feels real-ly good [being a candidate]. I worked really hard to get here,� Zervos, a senior electron-ic media and film major, said. �I had to work so many hours to raise money for the sponsor-ship fees and wardrobe costs. I�m very blessed to be a finalist.� In 2003, she received a letter from the American Co-Ed Pageant Committee after they noticed her community service work. �When I was eight years old I was in the newspaper for help-ing the homeless. I�ve worked with Bea Gaddy. I�ve worked with Bags-a-Plenty. My brother and I organized that when we were younger,� Zervos said. �We also do trick-or-treating for canned goods. We do that every year no matter what. And I�m also gather-ing coats for the needy. Anything that needs help, I try to help out with�that�s one of my top priori-ties.� Zervos said she never expected to be in pageants because she was shy as a young girl. For her first outing as a Miss Maryland Co-Ed contestant, Zervos remembered a few things that went wrong. �I had never done a pageant before in my life. I had completely the wrong dress, wrong makeup, but I still ended being the third runner up,� Zervos said. From there, Zervos went on to her first attempt as a Miss Maryland USA participant and found the com-petition much more difficult, not finishing in the top 15. She then went back to the Miss Maryland Co-Ed pageant and climbed the ladder a little higher, finishing as second run-ner up. As she pre-pares for Miss Maryland USA 2008, set to take place Nov. 2, 3 and 4, Zervos spends most of her time working on her fitness. �There are a lot of physical things I have to do. I try to jog at least one to two miles a day. I�m not trying to be a crazed fit per-son, but you have to be in really good shape to be considered for the top 15. I [also] try to eat healthy, not necessarily less, but just healthy,� she said. Zervos also participates in intramural basketball and soccer and does Pilates when she can�t get outside to run. In addition to her work-out regiment, Zervos practices inter-view questions with her mother, a former model, who�s always It feels really good candidate]. I worked really hard to get here. I had to work so many hours to raise money for the sponsorship fees and wardrobe costs. I�m very blessed to be a finalist. Lia Zervos Senior, EMF major, Miss Maryland USA finalist rea [being a ca re See PAGEANT, page 14 Published by and for the students of Towson and Baltimore -- twice-weekly The Towerlight Monday The Tigers knock off Old Dominion Sports, page 24 Students �Light the Night� for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society News, page 7 "