And the 17-year-old found it hard to pass up a pageant that would allow her to promote her Hispanic heritage and compete with her peers.

A year after she plunged into the world of interview and evening wear competitions, the Oklahoma City teen has captured her first national title. She was named Miss National Teen Ambassador 2003 last month at the national Ms. Belleza Latina Pageant in Chicago.

Even as she celebrates her title, the teen is hoping her pageant participation helps her achieve a lifelong goal -- a college education.

"I had never cried more in my life than when I received my award," Badillo said. "I was very honored when she (pageant director Maria Torres) announced I had gotten that."

Badillo may not have received the top prize in the teen division -- Wilmaris Vasquez Pabon of Puerto Rico was named Miss Teen Belleza Latina 2003 -- but Badillo received a crown, sash, plaque and will make appearances, promote her platform of Hispanic education and represent teens, said Torres, pageant president. She also will travel free to next year's pageant, where she will work with the staff to put on the event, provide entertainment and pass on her crown.

While the judges didn't name her the queen, Torres selected her for the ambassador honors because "she has all the qualities of a queen."

"I could not have picked a better national ambassador. She is the epitome of what a teen should be," said the founder of the growing Latina pageant. "She's awesome. I couldn't even talk when I was announcing her as the National Teen Ambassador. We both just bawled."

The 2002 national pageant marked the second year for the senior at Mid-Del Christian Schools to participate in the fledgling Ms. Belleza Latina. The pageant, in its second year, was started to give Hispanic women a forum to compete with their peers and express their inner and outer beauty and cultural pride. The pageant includes interview, evening gown and fashionwear competitions, with the interview counting as 50 percent of a contestant's score.

Badillo was selected Miss Oklahoma Teen Belleza Latina both times in an at-large application and interview process.

The daughter of Antonio and Maria Badillo said she never considered competing in pageants until she heard about Ms. Belleza Latina. Once she attended the 2001 national event, she was hooked. It dispelled many of the stereotypes about Hispanic women and pageant contestants.

"I loved it. The girls were so sweet," she said. "People don't hear about the positives about Hispanics. Everyone there was trying to improve the image of the Latina people."

Although the contestant field was small for the pageant's first year, Badillo said she was thrilled to finish as third runner-up and receive the Miss Photogenic Teen prize.

Her interest in pageants intensified when she learned about the opportunities some pageants offer to earn college scholarships and show off her talent. Her pageant platform is to encourage young Hispanics to stay in school and go to college. She has aspirations of earning a dance degree from a Mexican university and a second degree that would allow her to use her mastery of two languages in a career.

The teen has been practicing traditional Mexican folkloric dance for 11 years with the Yumare Mexican Folklorico Dance Group of Oklahoma City. She said she is passionate about her dance and dreams of one day working in a professional folkloric troupe.

She performed her dance talent when she competed in the state America's National Teenager Pageant. The prize for the winner of the talent division was a year's tuition to Oklahoma City University, but Badillo earned first runner-up in the division.

"That was OK, because the standing ovation made me feel better," she said.

She also danced at the state Miss Cinderella Teen Pageant, competing as Miss Cinderella Teen Midwest City. She won the state talent competition and was eligible to go to the international finals in Las Vegas, but she was not about to raise enough money to go.

Health and financial difficulties nearly prevented her from participating in the national Ms. Belleza Latina Pageant this year, but Torres waived the entrance fee because "I didn't want her to not be able to come just because of money."

Competing in pageants is expensive, with a trip to a national event costing $850 to $2,000. Her parents make sacrifices to help pay for the fees, airfare and clothes, and Badillo works two jobs. Her dance instructor, Manuel Garcia, and local businesses who sponsor her also help raise the funds needed.

"If I do win a (major) national pageant, it'll be enough to make up for it with college scholarships," Badillo said.

The youngest of two children won her first pageant scholarship Friday. She will receive a two-year tuition waiver to Northwestern Oklahoma State University for her second runner-up finish in the university's Miss Cinderella Pageant, pageant director Patti Wilber said. Badillo represented her school as Miss Mid-Del Christian in the pageant, a 51-year-old homecoming tradition at the Alva university.

The pageant judges were especially impressed with Badillo's unusual, striking and colorful talent, said Wilber, also the director of the university's Center for Business Development. In addition to performing during the talent competition, she danced again for the audience at the pageant finals at the judges' request.

Badillo is preparing to compete in other pageants, including the state Sunburst Beauty Pageant later this month and the national Miss Teen Latin Image Pageant in March.

Although it does not offer scholarships, Badillo said she hopes to participate in the young women's division of the Ms. Belleza Latina Pageant, since "it's my first pageant, so I don't think I'm getting out of it until I win." But she also is taking modeling classes as she contemplates entering larger pageant systems, such as Miss America, that offer major scholarships.

"You gotta start out small and work your way up, and that's what I'm trying to do," she said.