Penn State graduate and newly crowned Miss Virginia Tara Wheeler says she's anything but typical.

"I'm not a girly girl or a tomboy,"

she said. "I embrace all aspects of myself."

Wheeler, class of 2006, jumped right into pageants during her senior year at Penn State.

She was crowned Miss Pittsburgh her senior year, declared Miss Arlington this December and won the Miss Virginia title in June.

This January, Wheeler will take on her biggest challenge yet -- the Miss America competition. The pageant will be held in Las Vegas.

Wheeler started pageants three years ago to help pay for college.

"Something that a lot of people don't know," she said, "is that The Miss America Organization is the largest provider of scholarship money for women in the world."

So far, she has earned more than $23,000 in scholarships from the organization.

Wheeler said she chose Penn State for many reasons.

"I received an Air Force scholarship and Penn State's ROTC program is one of the best," she said.

Location was key for Wheeler, because the university is far enough away from home, yet it was still full of opportunities for her.

"Now I bleed blue and white," Wheeler said, mentioning her Roanoke apartment bathroom is decorated in Penn State blue and white.

While at Penn State, Wheeler participated in a variety of extra-curricular activities.

She was the starting goalie of the Lady Icers hockey team, an Air Force Cadet and a reporter for Penn State News.

The Lady Icers played a part in Wheeler's decision to come to Penn State.

"It's [a] club [sport]," she said "but still competitive."

During her time here, she also formed a Penn State service organization called Positive Role Models Building Powerful Women (Pos-Pow).

This organization has more than 100 mentors helping children of all ages and backgrounds.

It focuses on helping girls break down stereotypes and learn to love themselves as they are.

Having a local title has been beneficial for Wheeler in expanding Pos-Pow, Wheeler said. While at Penn State, Wheeler called many schools, trying to spread her message, and expand her organization. But no one had any interest in the program.

After being crowned Miss Pittsburgh, people started calling her, asking her to come speak at their school.

Wheeler described having a local beauty pageant title as a "megaphone" for her cause.

Penn State is still a big part of Wheeler's life, though with such a busy schedule and a pageant coming up, she rarely has time to visit.

However, she is planning a trip to the university next month for a fellow Penn State graduate's wedding.

During the fall she also tries to make it to the football games to tailgate with friends.

Tyler Lewkovich (freshman-science), from Leesburg, Va., said having a successful person graduate from Penn State is a credit to the university.

Lewkovich said Wheeler's decision to come to Penn State is good publicity to bring out-of-state students to State College.

A reality show will air Feb. 3 on TLC documenting the Miss America competition, Wheeler said.

As for the future, Wheeler has no definite plans. She is deciding between pursuing a career in journalism and returning to graduate school.

She has an interest in social work and counseling and may pursue a career in that direction after she is finished with the pageant, she said.

Even with all her experience and goals, however, Wheeler still claims to get nervous.

"If you don't get nervous," she said, "something is wrong."