Ouachita Parish High School's Holli Conway was crowned Miss Louisiana 2018, Saturday night at the Monroe Civic Center. She beat 32 other contestants from across the state. Conway wowed the judges all weekend long, even winning Friday's preliminary talent competition. She's taking home a $10 thousand dollar scholarship, and an opportunity to compete for Miss America in September.

She says it still seems unreal. "I keep looking at the sash to make sure it happened," Conway said. But it did, after years of preparation finally paid off, and it's not over yet."I try to prepare all the same,” said Conway. “Mentally, I'm preparing for Miss America. Anytime I compete, I'm preparing to be on the Miss America stage. I want to be at that level. "In September, she'll get her wish.

Conway says when she was younger, this wasn't a place she expected to be. "I wasn't really competing in pageants growing up, but I met the organization while I was performing and they persuaded me into it, they were persistent and I fell in love with it," Conway said.

"She called home,” said her mother Charlotte Conway. “'What do you think? I'm thinking about competing for this pageant and they want me to compete." I was like "Well give it a try.'" And now, Conway is one of just a few black women to be crowned Miss Louisiana.

"Louisiana is such a diverse state and I think that it's time that we embrace each other in light of our differences," Conway said Saturday night. Now, she prepares for Miss America, and the changes of a new pageant format, but, Miss Louisiana's executive director says she's confident Holli' can adjust. That's one thing we're really excited about Holli' because, she such a flexible person and we feel like she'll be able to adapt to these changes, said Little. “She'll just be a breath of fresh air in Atlantic City." Somewhere she plans to inspire the nation and bring home the national crown. The Miss America competition takes place on September 9th in Atlantic City.