I am Miss California USA 2025. I am Miss California USA 2025. I am Miss California USA 2025 …

The lamp’s yellow light gently lit the words written 10 times over in MVHS alum ‘23 Kylie Chang’s notebook as she read them aloud while sitting on her desk, pen in hand. For a year prior to the Miss California USA competition in August of 2025, Chang, who is currently a junior at UC Berkeley, would write these words every single night, manifesting her eventual record-breaking title into existence as the first East Asian to be crowned Miss California USA.

However, growing up, Chang hadn’t always imagined herself winning high-level pageants. At 5 years old, Chang started her career in the arts as a Chinese folk art dancer, later branching out to other dance styles as a way to express her introverted personality. After consistent practice, Chang joined the MVHS Dance Team her freshman year. During this time, she also became closer with MVHS alum ‘23 Katherine Shen, who says Chang’s fun personality and hardworking nature drew them together. 

“She’s the type of person to not take a lot of things personally,” Shen said. “She doesn’t let other people or external opinions impact her, what she wants to do or how she acts. She knows who she is very well, and isn’t afraid to show that.”

Chang’s sense of self-assurance showed when she didn’t back away from her dance studio teacher’s recommendation to try competing at pageants in her sophomore year. From there, she entered many Asian American-centered pageants during high school, where she won titles such as Miss Sing Tao in 2020 and Miss Asian Global in 2023. Through these experiences, Chang connected with the Asian American community and her cultural heritage, meeting important mentors who fostered the beginning of her pageant career.

After major successes in Asian American pageants, Chang decided to dive into more mainstream American pageants, specifically the Miss USA system. With this transition, Chang’s hope was to further represent the Asian American community that had raised her by participating in popular American pageants. As a result, she decided to join the Miss California USA pageant, where she began intensive training toward her biggest title yet.

“Going into more American pageantry made me reflect on my cultural identity and how much of that I wanted to share, or how I should use it strategically,” Chang said. “I struggled with it a bit, actually, because I wasn’t sure if they would appreciate that cultural element. But I thought to myself, ‘Well, that’s a part of who I am. It’s a part of my upbringing and how I was raised, and that’s a really important thing for me.’ So I decided to really embrace that.” 

Chang’s decision to compete in Miss California USA came with a busier and more independently-planned training schedule — one that she chose to fill with runway and fitness training sessions, as well as walking for New York and Los Angeles Fashion Week shows.

During fitness training sessions, Chang’s personal trainer Angelo Fraiser’s philosophy that emphasized the importance of goal-setting was what influenced Chang most. In particular, he gave Chang two tasks during their very first session: first, to write down a list of 10 good things about herself, both objective and subjective, and second, to write down “I am Miss California USA” 10 times every day. Her job was to continue looking at these two lists or rewrite them every day until the competition.

“We set goals and said, ‘We’re going to believe for you to get this crown, and we’re going to claim it, so let’s speak that way,’” Fraiser said. “Because when you can actually get somebody to believe and have confidence, it takes the prejudice away on who’s prettier or who’s built better, because that’s all vanity and vexation. You want to make sure that the person is believing right, and they feel good in their own body. It’s the infrastructure that really resonates, that people love. It’s what’s going on inside — and when that comes out, it sends proactive energy to others and compels people.” 

Though Chang initially struggled with being inexperienced in competing in the Miss California USA pageant, due to limited existing connections with sponsors and industry experts, it later became a driving factor that pushed her to further immerse herself into the pageantry world. 

“It’s really just about putting yourself out there, connecting and networking with as many people as you can and learning from other people’s experiences,” Chang said. “That was really what gave me an advantage in the competition. I had looked at how other competitors, or previous title holders, had done with their year, and then I applied their knowledge and their experiences into how I wanted to present myself.”

During the Miss California USA competition that was held from Aug. 8-10, 2025, Chang competed in a variety of events, including a panel interview, a swimsuit walk and an evening gown showcase. Near the end of the competition, the top five competitors, including Chang, were asked to answer impromptu political, personal and societal questions.

“In my final answer when I was competing for Miss California USA, I talked a lot about my Asian American identity,” Chang said. “I think the judges really appreciated that, and that’s how I ended up winning and becoming the first East Asian winner for Miss California.”

Chang shares that a key factor that led her to her final victory was the mentality she held throughout training. As Chang was met with both simple and challenging days, she learned the power of writing down an overarching goal and breaking it down into smaller, achievable steps. By seeing her own progress through benchmarks, Chang motivated herself to continue improving, which prompted her concrete, continuous growth.

“When you think of goals that are really far away, it’s hard to manifest it,” Chang said. “But the more that you write it down and speak it into existence, the more you’re able to bring that into your reality and see different opportunities that align with that vision that you’re writing down. So at first when I did it, it was ridiculous. But slowly, as I got more opportunities, did more modeling gigs or got to connect with more people in the pageant industry, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, I’m actually getting a lot closer to this goal of becoming Miss California USA 2025 and the more I write it, the more it feels real.’ So when I actually won, it’s not really like I was expecting it — it’s more that my manifestation came into fruition.”

But beyond reaching personal goals, Chang’s intent in competing for Miss California USA has never strayed from representing her Asian upbringing and community on a larger, national scale. In the 74 years since the founding of Miss USA, Chang’s historical win as the first East Asian Miss California USA continues to stand as a record that has deeply empowered her. 

“It’s just really inspiring for me to hear messages from other girls who also have similar backgrounds, or who are Asian, reach out to me for advice,” Chang said. “Maybe they’re also starting their own pageant journey or whatever dream it is that they want to achieve. I’m just really happy to be able to share my experiences and guide and mentor them in a way, and give back to the guidance I received along the way.”