|
|
|
USF Senior Wins Garlic Scholarship
|
|
|
USF's Jessica Brewka (center), Miss Garlic Queen runner-up, gets a hand braiding garlic at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
|
|
|
Treating one’s temptations to a cup of garlic-flavored ice cream for the first time at the Gilroy Garlic Festival: $6.
Closeting the couture stylings needed to compete in the Miss Gilroy Garlic Queen contest, finishing as first runner-up: $180.
Delivering a rib-splitting monologue on “Garlicmeatavegamin, the answer to all your culinary problems,” a là Lucille Ball, in front of Garlic Queen contestants, fans, and judges: priceless.
Well, not entirely. There was the $500 scholarship she took home as first runner-up of the stinking rose contest, but that wasn’t money that she had to shell out, said University of San Francisco senior Jessica Brewka.
“It has been an experience like no other and the memories I’ve taken away are priceless,” said Brewka, of the Garlic Queen competition held in May as a lead into the Gilroy Garlic Festival in July.
Brewka, an English major and criminal justice minor, jumped into the Miss Gilroy Garlic Queen competition with no previous pageant experience, intent on expanding her community contacts and creating new ties to area leaders. Growing up in Morgan Hill, just down the road from Gilroy, Brewka attended San Jose schools near her parents’ offices, missing out on many of the hometown relationships she would have liked to build – something she wanted to change.
“Unlike the other girls in the pageant, I had almost no ties to the community because I didn’t go to the local high schools or anything,” Brewka said.
That didn’t keep the aspiring English teacher, USF Spirit Squad member, and ambassador for USF’s office of admissions from walking away with top honors in the “talent” and “garlic speech” portions of the pageant, however. In carrying out her garlicky duties as a Garlic Festival representative, she met hundreds of new faces and connected with various leaders from around Gilroy and Morgan Hill, Brewka said.
For the talent portion of the pageant, she sang “Popular,” from the Broadway musical “Wicked.” Then, she channeled Lucille Ball for the monologue, or garlic speech, titled “Garlic According to Lucy,” based on Ball’s well-know bit on the “I Love Lucy” show for a fake product called Vitameatavegimen.
“Garlicmeatavegamin is the solution to all your garlicky dreams. It keeps garlic lovers energized: It’s how the 4,000 (Garlic Festival) volunteers donate the 41,597 hours of time, the chefs at Gourmet Alley serve up 16,961 servings of garlic bread, and Shaboom has rock ‘n rolled over three million guests over the past 29 years,” Brewka told Garlic Queen fans and judges for her monologue.
Imitating Ball was exhilarating for Brewka, who grew up watching “I Love Lucy” reruns on television. She sees the comedienne as a strong woman and fabulous role model, Brewka said.
Judged in four categories, including an interview with judges, garlic speech, talent, and on-stage answer to a question from judges, Brewka won as first runner-up, taking home a cool $500 scholarship. She plans to save the money for an apartment after she graduates or set it aside for graduate school.
She credits the quality of her Garlic Queen contest performances to being comfortable in front of a crowd, a talent she has sharpened with years of local theater productions, competitive dancing with the USF Spirit Squad, and speaking to students and parents as a university ambassador, Brewka said.
Already immersed in fall classes, she’ll graduate next spring and hopes to stay local by attending San Jose State University, with its well-regarded teacher-credentialing program, or Santa Clara University, Brewka said. “I feel like teaching is one of the biggest impacts a person can make in his or her life,” she said. Helping students to balance the importance of learning the English language with subjects like math and science, which many schools tend to emphasize, is one of her long-range goals, Brewka said.
Until then, she’s looking forward to next year’s Gilroy Garlic Festival and craving the garlic bread from Gourmet Alley, Brewka said.
Editor's Note: To see Brewka and other Gilroy Garlic Queen contestants’ performances
online click here.
- Originally posted Sept. 8, 2008 - 
 Back to Top
|
|
