Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet Daily News
As a television reporter for KSNB in Nebraska, 23-year-old Hoang-Kim Cung knows all about headline-making news. But just a year into her job as a reporter and fill-in anchor at the Grand Island, Neb., station Cung is the one making headlines.
Hoang-Kim Cung is a reporter and fill-in anchor at NBC Nebraska in Grand Island, Nebraska. (Photo courtesy Hoang-Kim Cung)
Cung is the first Vietnamese American woman to win a state title on the Miss USA pageant circuit and is gearing up to compete July 12 in the Miss USA pageant, which will be held in Baton Rouge, La. Along with five other state title holders, Cung has been attending “boot camps” to prepare and train for the competition. That includes increasing her daily fitness regimen from two hours a day to three, working with a nutritionist, practicing walking and answering potential interview questions.
“People think it’s glamorous but that’s not true at all,” she said. “A lot of it is based on communication skills and physical fitness. I really have to push myself.”
As a Vietnamese American girl, Cung said she didn’t see very many faces like hers in the pageants she used to watch with her family. “I always dreamed of being a beauty queen,” Cung said.”It just always seemed so out of reach for me.”
Hoang Kim Cung’s official portrait as Miss Nebraska USA (Courtesy Miss Universe Organization)
But it wasn’t. With the encouragement of her mother, she began competing in pageants at age 14. After a series of local wins, Cung – a former figure skater — eventually took home the National American Miss title in 2012. Cung said she loved the impact she had on little girls who looked up to her, and after she moved to Nebraska in 2013, the pageant bug bit her again. She entered the Miss Nebraska pageant and won.
“I’m a big advocate of being bold, and I’m really proud to be the first Vietnamese American,” she said.
This photo, taken by Hoang-Kim Cung’s father, shows her as a figure skater. (Photo courtesy Hoang-Kim Cung)
As the daughter of a sociology professor mother and police officer father, Cung is a self-proclaimed news junkie and studied broadcast journalism at the University of Texas. She graduated in 2013 and headed for Nebraska, in a move that she says was one of the craziest things she’s ever done.
As the youngest of three, and the only one born in America, she has her older brother to thank for being here, because as she puts it, he “begged our parents for another sibling.” Her father, Thanh Cung, was a South Vietnamese soldier during the Vietnam War, and her grandparents sponsored the family to Plano, Texas, where Cung grew up. Her parents insisted on making sure Cung knew her roots and did not teach her English until she started school. That decision allowed Cung to be completely fluent in Vietnamese, a skill she is thankful for as she makes her rounds at community events.
Cung’s crowning moment after winning the title of Miss Nebraska. (Photo courtesy Hoang-Kim Cung)
“I’ve been going to a lot of Vietnamese communities and to see the screaming girls, and to be there as a role model — it makes a huge difference,” she said.
Her win couldn’t have come at a better time. As the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon approaches, her history-making win is a bright spot for the community and is proof that Vietnamese Americans have flourished decades after the war. Cung says she thinks about the coincidence “all the time” and it is something she’s extremely proud of.
“I think everything happens for a reason and I’ve been able to talk to a lot of people about my heritage. I don’t share it because it’s an immigrant story, but because I want people to know the history of why the Vietnamese people are here,” Cung said.
This year, organizers have added a new feature to contestant profiles: languages they speak. Cung said she’s thrilled about this and is proud to list “English and Vietnamese” in hers.
Cung, with fellow queens Rebecca Dunn (middle right) and Olivia Jordan (right) visit cancer patients at Dallas Childrens Hospital.
In addition to the charitable works she is involved in as Miss Nebraska USA, Cung and her family also started a non-profit organization called Legacy Organization of Vietnamese Enrichment (or L.O.V.E.), which aids former veterans in Vietnam. To date, their organization has helped more than 300 people through the more than $10,000 raised to support the veterans.
Cung is running on a platform of teaching girls to be confident, bold and empowered. She wants them to know their value and to make sure women know they have a choice. She wants to emphasize the importance of gender equality and said being in pageants has taught her to be be mentally strong.
Cung says she still gets excited every time she puts on her crown, and says it is “a fun feeling.” (Photo courtesy Miss Universe Organization)
“When I walk on the Miss USA stage this summer, it will be a culmination of all the hard work. I can’t control the judges’ opinion but I can control everything I’ve done to prepare myself leading up to the pageant. I’m ready.”
Cung knows she will have a lot of people rooting her on. And even if she doesn’t take home the national title, Cung says it’s an experience she’ll never forget.
“This is it. One shot, once in a lifetime. I still get excited every time I put on my crown. It’s a really fun feeling.”
To follow Hoang-Kim’s journey to the Miss USA pageant, visit www.ColorandChic.com
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