Karyn Dodier and Faith were first in line. As visitors arrived at Petco on Cerrillos Road on Sunday afternoon, they were met with a line of critters from Española Humane, all of them ready to be adopted. Faith, a knee-high black dog with a pink collar and a splash of white fur across her nose, was closest to the door with Dodier on the other end of her leash.
The duo greeted prospective adopters, with Faith quick to outstretched hands in kisses. Dodier, 24, is many things. In addition to being an animal lover and longtime volunteer for Española Humane, she's a native Santa Fean with deep roots in town, an actor and filmmaker, a computer scientist and advocate for women in science and technology fields.
And in June, Dodier was crowned 2024's National American Miss New Mexico. She'll represent the state in the nationwide pageant in November. Dodier is familiar with the criticisms against pageants, which often denounce the competitions for objectifying women or reinforcing harmful beauty standards.
But Dodier said she sees participating in pageants — and her new role as National American Miss New Mexico — as an exercise in self-expression and an opportunity to speak publicly about the issues that matter to her most. "We're not representing something for somebody else," she said of pageant queens. "What we're doing is for us.
" Dodier didn't grow up participating in pageants. She entered her first last year at age 23, after receiving an invitation in the mail to participat.
