Newly-crowned Miss Oklahoma Tessa Dorrell prepares for Miss America competition

Tessa Dorrell was crowned the new Miss Oklahoma on Sunday at Rose State College, but now she is preparing for the next step at the upcoming Miss America competition.

RELATED: Tessa Dorrell crowned Miss Oklahoma 2025

Before then, however, Dorrell joined News 9 on Tuesday to discuss her recent win and what comes next for Miss Oklahoma.

Q: How are you feeling this morning? Has it really set in yet?

A: It finally sets in whenever I get to see the video, the crowning moment, because I'm like, I've always wanted to have one of those. Now I get to watch it right in front of me on my phone. So it's finally sinking in, and I'm in less of a shocked state.

Q: Do you remember how the whole moment unfolded?

A: They say you don't really think of anything, and that's kind of where I was. All I could think was that I was just so happy to be standing there. Win or lose, I was just happy I had made the top five, and then to hear my name called, I was really in shock. It's been the best couple of days so far. I'm so excited. 

Q: Walk us through your journey to the Miss Oklahoma stage for the viewers that don't know much about you.

A: Last year, I started my journey as an at-large contestant in the Miss Oklahoma organization. I'd always wanted to compete at Miss Oklahoma because I was a Star, which is our Miss America's Little Sisters mentorship program. So I've always dreamed of going there. This year I won Miss Broken Arrow, the local title that took me to Miss Oklahoma, and it was a lot of work, but I ended up winning this year, so it was an awesome moment.

Q: Where do you go from here? What happens next?

A: I'll be going to Miss America in September, so the Miss America prep started yesterday. We're already getting ready for it. Getting ready to go to Orlando and have the time of my life, man.

Q: You did a special monologue called Walking in My Shoes to empower special education in Oklahoma. Why did you choose that? What was the message you're trying to send?

A: I had done theater growing up in Oklahoma City. I did theater, but that was a while ago, I'm a retired theater kid. That's not in my bones anymore. I did a monologue of her story, and it's about working in sports. I was a sports media major at OSU, and it's called walking in my shoes because my sports shoes are very different than my pageant shoes, but it also coincides with my community service initiative, the Partners Club, because I love to tell people we have to learn what it's like to walk in other people's shoes. It's very important to me because I'm a woman in sports, but it also goes with my community service. 

Q: You're getting ready and preparing for Miss America. What do you do to prepare?

A: Right now, we're in wardrobe prep, which is exciting. We'll be in wardrobe prep, and then everything after that, working in the community, making sure I'm ready to be Miss America if I'm lucky enough to be her, it's amazing.

Q: What's the message that you want to send to young girls?

A: You can do it. For so long, I placed limits on myself that said I couldn't because I hadn't done pageant before. I started at 21, which seems like an older age to start in pageants, especially when you see girls that have done this forever, it's never too late to decide. Now's the time to work for it so you can do it at any point in your life.

Q: What are you looking most forward to as you start this amazing tour. 

A: I can't wait to go to schools, I'm a teacher's kid, so that's why I picked my community service initiative. Already seeing the people in the town, I'm from Jones, and how they've rallied around me already, I can't wait to go to those schools where I'm from and see all these kids that now know who I am and look up to me.