St. John’s freshman Lindsey Graham was crowned Miss Bedford in August in a regional pageant in the race for Miss New Hampshire.

Graham will next compete in April against 15 other girls for the title of Miss New Hampshire. If she wins the next pageant, she will go on to represent her home state in the Miss America Scholarship Pageant in 2006.

Graham is no stranger to pageant competition. She ended her reign as Miss New Hampshire Teenage 2004 just weeks before being crowned Miss Bedford. She was also named the North American Country Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year. She received this international title in Nashville, Tenn. after performing the gospel song “I’ll Fly Away.”

“I’ve never thought of myself as a ‘pageant girl,’ but got involved by working in professional music theater since I was seven,” Graham said. “Competing in pageants is a nice way to earn scholarship money.”

As Miss New Hampshire Teenager, a part of the Miss America Organization of competitions, Graham had the opportunity to receive a 50 percent tuition reduction at any state university in the nation that accepted her. However, Graham, who has been devoted to receiving a Catholic education, chose to attend St. John’s.

The University recruited Graham through her high school, St. Thomas Aquinas, in Dover, N.H.

“St. John’s made me an offer I couldn’t turn down,” she said.

As a student at St. John’s, Graham is busy working on maintaining her title as Miss Bedford and furthering her education. She returns to New England once a month to help raise money for the Miss New Hampshire Scholarship Program, one of the obligations that go along with her title as Miss Bedford.

She also sings at church services on Sunday mornings and travels into Manhattan regularly for both vocal and dance lessons. She is considering a major in communications.