There were around 10 girls in my division and probably 60 or 70 altogether. Cosmos has been around for a long time in a lot of other countries, but it is really just starting to take off in the United States. With COVID-19, the numbers dropped off, but they are picking back up. In one of the other countries, they gave a car or something like that for their winner. They really go all out with prizes in the other systems. I do think within the next several years it is going to be just as big here. They keep making the prize package bigger and bigger.
I had heard about Cosmos for several years before I ever competed in it. I heard that they were having a state pageant this last February and so I entered that. I won the state title and then went to nationals.