Next weekend is a big one for Miss Hawaii Teen USA 2017 Lauren Teruya. The 19-year-old ‘Iolani grad will be in Phoenix, competing against 50 other young women at the Miss Teen USA pageant.

Until she won her title, sash and tiara in November, Teruya thought of herself as an actress. She enrolled in the Diamond Head Theatre Shooting Stars program when she was 9 and made her stage debut in the adult ensemble of “Cinderella” at DHT when she was 13.

From there she moved to bigger roles at DHT and in the ‘Iolani theater program. She plans to continue her theater and acting education at the University of Southern California.

JOHN BERGER: When did you decide pageants were something you wanted to do?

LAUREN TERUYA: When I was 18. From the time my sister, Kathryn, won Miss Hawaii Teen USA in 2012, a lot of people assumed that I was going to run sooner or later. But I had a huge passion for musical theater and couldn’t see myself as Miss Hawaii Teen USA at the same time that I was going after all those roles at Diamond Head Theatre.

Then came my senior year when I was applying for college, and I thought, why not try it? You can’t run for Miss Hawaii Teen when you’re 20.

JB: What do you want to do as Miss Teen USA?

LT: The Diamond Head Theatre Shooting Stars program really helped me grow and become more confident. I want to introduce performing arts to children who don’t have access to classes.

I want to work with kids in every state I can get to and show them that maybe they have a talent they didn’t even realize.

JB: If your platform had a marketing slogan, what would it be?

LT: “Reach for your dreams no matter what gets in your way.” That’s really how I try to live my life.

JB: What do you enjoy doing when you’re “off duty”?

LT: I spend a lot of time with my sisters. They’re honestly my best friends. Kathryn and I love to go to exercise together.

I love to go hiking and going to the beach and anything outdoors. It’s the complete opposite from the pageant world, where you’re pretty much indoors and always made up.

JB: What would you like to be doing 10 years from now?

LT: I would love to be in Hollywood in a big major motion picture, but if the opportunity presents itself and teaching feels like a right path for me, then I’d like to be teaching.

“On the Scene” appears weekly in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Sunday Magazine. Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.