The newly crowned Miss Teen Illinois USA Arianna Thompson, set to compete Aug. 1 for the national crown, sits Wednesday outside of the Museum of the Grand Prairie in Mahomet. MAHOMET — Arianna Thompson wants to make a difference.
Thompson, who will be a senior next fall at Mahomet-Seymour High School, plans to attend college at the University of Alabama, where she will study to become a civil rights attorney. She feels strongly about the need to be an advocate for biracial individuals in the workplace. “I’ve always been interested in the law,” Thompson said.
“I’ve always been told I should be an attorney but someone involved in civil rights.” “The University of Alabama has a very good law school. They give a scholarship to their first-year law students.
” The 17-year-old Thompson, who visited Alabama with her mother, Rachel, during homecoming weekend, liked the energy on campus. “It feels very much like home,” she said. Being able to express oneself is a must for an attorney.
Thompson’s oratorical ability served her well May 25 when she was named tops in the interview portion of the weekend’s Miss Teen Illinois USA pageant in Normal. She went on to win the overall crown and will compete Aug. 1 in Los Angeles for the Miss Teen USA title, which will be shown on the CW television network.
That’s rarefied air for a young woman who grew up in Oakland, Ill., and captured her first title at age 6 when she was named Little Miss Oakland in 2014. “I remembe.
