OCEAN CITY – When Abby Berman’s mother signed her up for what she thought was an Ocean City summer camp, little did she know she was starting her daughter off on a path that led to the Miss New Jersey competition.
Berman, 18, who graduated last week from Ocean City High School, is competing this week as Miss Eastern Shore at Resorts Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.
Her first pageant was Little Miss Ocean City on the Music Pier stage, a far cry from the precursor to Miss America.
“My mom actually thought Little Miss Ocean City was a summer camp so she signed me up,” Berman said, laughing. Through the pageant she met the then-reigning Miss Ocean City Madison Kennelly, who later signed her up for a Miss America Outstanding Teen pageant.
“I had no idea what it was. I was in eighth grade at the time. I started competing … and I was determined to get my first title.”
It took her 11 pageants before she won her first title, Miss Garden State Outstanding Teen in 2019. “I just never stopped,” she said.
The pageant she won led her to the New Jersey Outstanding Teen competition. “I absolutely loved it. I met some of my best friends. The director was fantastic. It was an overall fun experience,” she said.
The daughter of Anissa and Bill Berman, Abby moved from Medford to Ocean City full-time three years ago. At OCHS, she was on the school’s dance team, but much of her free time was spent in Outstanding Teen competitions.
“That kind of took over my life,” she said. Berman, who has been a competitive dancer since she was 10 years old, does a lyrical dance for the talent portion of the competitions.
Her first non-teen pageant was Miss South Shore last summer. “I didn’t place but I was determined to get to Miss New Jersey,” she said. “I am going to college out of state so I wanted one year of competing in New Jersey.
A month later, she competed and won the Miss Eastern Shore title, which brought her to Miss New Jersey this week.
There are numerous pageants locally and around the state that are preliminaries for Miss New Jersey. Asked why she chose the Eastern Shore competition, Berman said she had been Miss Atlantic Shore Outstanding Teen in 2020 and the “Shore directors are absolutely fantastic. They really are like second parents to me so it was really important to me if I was going to go to Miss New Jersey I really wanted to go with them.”
Platform: Food allergies
Berman’s platform is food allergy awareness, something she understands in the most personal of ways.
“When I was around six months old … I was diagnosed with really severe food allergies so creating awareness about them is really important to me. When it came time to compete in pageants there really wasn’t a question about what I was going to do for my platform,” she said. Fittingly, her platform is all about food allergy awareness, getting legislation passed to help people with food allergies, educating restaurants and making others aware of how serious the allergies are.
“It’s been difficult at times,” Berman said. “I’ve had more near-death experiences than I would like at my age because of my food allergies. Then again, although they have been super scary, they motivated me to create more awareness and to educate people around me. Although it is difficult, if I could go back I would not change it. I never wanted my allergies to define me but they are a part of who I am.”
To raise awareness, she likes to share her own story and to let people, often in the restaurant industry, know that it is a time-sensitive situation. “You don’t have a lot of time to stop anaphylaxis (an acute allergic reaction to an antigen). That is why it is important if someone lets a worker at a restaurant know they have a food allergy to make sure the kitchen is aware and that there is no cross-contamination. Obviously when you’r going out to eat you chance that, but a lot of people take it lightly.”
As an example, she said her mother is allergic to gluten, but some people will think she is just avoiding it because she is on a diet. “People do need to know it can be a life-or-death situation.”
Berman also believes in getting people to react with empathy, rather than anger, at situations where someone, such as a student, has a food allergy that can affect others.
Growth through pageants
“When I entered my first pageant, I was 9 or 10 years old and extremely shy. I didn’t want to talk to the other contestants, not because I wasn’t being friendly, but because I wasn’t confident in my young self and I was scared,” Berman said. “That day I actually won the interview award and that is now my favorite part of the competition.
“From a young age pageants have instilled confidence in me and they let me know I can make a difference. I am inspired by all of the other women I meet with and how successful they are with their social impact and things they do for their communities. Overall it is a motivating and inspiring experience,” she said.
The interview remains her favorite part of the competitions. She laughs, adding, “My mom likes to say that I can talk to a wall. I definitely love getting the chance to talk to the judges one on one, up close and personal.”
Now that she is an alumna of Ocean City High School, she is headed to the University of Alabama and plans to major in news media.
“For as long as I can remember, I have watched the Miss America Pageants. The first Miss New Jersey I met was Brenna Weick (2016). It’s a full-circle moment for me to be competing at Miss New Jersey. I know my family also feels that it is full circle.”
What also makes her “super excited” is that she is getting to room with one of her closest friends, Miss South Shore Brynn McKinney. “That’s going to be a lot of fun. I really can’t wait to get to know everyone better.”
The Miss New Jersey preliminaries are Thursday and Friday at Resorts. The finals are Sunday evening. For more information about the pageant, go to missnj.org.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff