SAN ANTONIO – You can tell by her runway-style walk that Victoria Oluwakotanmi is on a mission, and not just the kind that occupies her time during business hours.
A logistics specialist with the U. S. Navy, stationed at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, she is preparing to compete for the crown of Miss Texas USA.
Oluwakotanmi is relatively new to the field of beauty pageants.
However, she has been an enlisted member of the military since shortly after graduation from John Marshall High School.
During her four years of service so far, she has crisscrossed the country in completing her duties to defend the nation.
Next month, Oluwakotanmi plans to walk across the stage, a path not often taken by women in uniform.
She says seeing other previous pageant contestants who looked like her—African-American women— inspired her to try.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God. I can do this. Like, I can actually do this,” she said. “And if I was chosen, I feel like that would be a great opportunity to represent not only military women, but also Nigerian-American women and Black women.”
Oluwakotanmi is the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. Her father moved to the United States about 30 years ago, randomly choosing Chicago as a home-base by spinning and tapping a globe.
After working his way up from a dishwasher to holding a doctorate in nursing, he relocated Victoria and the rest of the family to San Antonio.
“So he really is the American dream,” she said. “My dad inspires me so much to be such a great individual and go for what you want.”
Equipped with that determination, Oluwakotanmi hopes to capture the crown in Houston. She will run as an at-large contestant in the competition, which takes place July 14 through July 16.