The 2022 Miss Oklahoma Pageant Had Gaylord Connection

Each of the 36 contestants from across Oklahoma who competed for the title of Miss Oklahoma 2022 has a story to tell. Each taking a unique path into the pageant world, focusing on a different direction with her scholarship goals, and each representing worthwhile causes and issues. However, two candidates had similar but varied paths that also led them to the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Sooner fans were overjoyed when two of our own took home top honors at this year’s pageant. Megan Gold, Miss Bricktown, was crowned Miss Oklahoma and Emily Sanders, Miss Tulsa, was awarded first runner-up.

Megan grew up in Edmond, a quiet and reserved child who loved watching pageants.

“I actually grew up really, really shy,” she said. “I would watch Miss America each year, and I remember in 2012, I sat down to watch it and decided, I want to do this.”

Initially, Megan’s parents were apprehensive about their very shy daughter’s decision to compete in pageants, but supported her when she started her career with the Miss Edmond Libertyfest pageant. Megan began competing in Miss America’s National Teen program at age 13 which helped her overcome her shyness.

“It really helped bring me out of my shell,” Megan shared. “It helped guide me in the direction of the tv career that I wanted to pursue.”

After aging out of the Teen Program, she began competing in the Miss America Program which she participated in for three years before winning the title.

Megan’s path to Gaylord wound through OU’s Meteorology program. As a journalism minor, Megan gained on-air experience working as a meteorologist for OU Nightly.

“Working on OU Nightly allowed me to build a reel and gain all these skills prior to going into the workforce,” she explained. “So, I got my first tv job as a sophomore in college really thanks to Gaylord and their OU Nightly Program.”

Currently, she is a meteorologist on News on 6 in Tulsa. For the next year, she will be working part-time, as she completes her reign as Miss Oklahoma and competes for Miss America. Megan is spending her time preparing for the Miss America pageant by speaking at community events and in local schools about her social impact focus: ending senior hunger. The Miss America pageant is expected to be held in December.

Likewise, Emily was inspired to begin competing in pageants after watching some friends participate. Her first pageant experience was at the age of 13 and like Megan, she competed in Miss America’s National Teen program.

“I competed for about four years there and was lucky enough to earn some great scholarship dollars and I did pretty well,” she said.

After aging out of the Teen category, Emily continued into the Miss program where she crossed paths with Megan and their camaraderie began.

“Megan was actually one of the girls who really inspired me to do Miss because I wasn’t really sure I was ready for it yet,” Emily explained. “I had just graduated from high school, and it was my first year of college, and I wasn’t quite sure.”

Emily and Megan continued to compete in the Miss Oklahoma program and their friendship grew. According to Emily, Megan is the reason she continued to pursue the title.

“She really encouraged me,” she said. “She talked me into it and I’m definitely grateful she did.”

Originally from Kingfisher, Emily competed as Miss Tulsa in this year’s pageant. The Miss Oklahoma pageant is an open format which means, contestants can compete anywhere in the state.

While Emily has chosen broadcast journalism as her major, her career path is still wide open.

“I’m going to try a little bit of everything,” she said. “I love sports, big football girl, so sports news would be great. Hard news would also be great, but I’d love to go to DC and do the program out there and do the study abroad thing. I’d like to try a little bit of everything.”

Emily is a sophomore this fall, so she’s planning to compete another year in hopes of winning more scholarship money.

As far as long-term plans, Emily is a singer/songwriter, so her ultimate dream is to be a professional musician in Nashville.

“That’s the main goal,” she explained, “but journalism is just another great option for me to get more into the entertainment industry and in the media and gain experience to help with my music career.”

Emily recently competed on American Idol, and in her words, the experience was “incredible.”

“I was lucky enough to get to audition for this last season that aired this spring,” she explained. “It was one heck of an experience to get to be in that room with Katy, Luke and Lionel. It was surreal and so incredible. I learned a lot from them and being able to meet artists from across the country that are phenomenal in their craft, in their genre, was so cool. It was definitely an experience I learned a lot from, and I’m excited to see where that journey continues to take me and the doors that will open.”