When Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff was a young girl she won her first beauty pageant in 2005, and was named Little Miss Parkville, which added to her very fond memories of growing in the town. Even at her young age she knew she wanted to continue with pageants because education was always of the upmost importance to her, and she knew that competing in pageants and aiming for the scholarship rewards would be a goal that would serve her well if accomplished.
After winning the title of Miss Missouri Teen USA 11 years later, she moved on to the next level, Miss Teen USA, in which she competed against all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
“I chose to compete in Miss Missouri Teen USA because of the scholarship component, education has always been of utmost importance to me, and I saw the opportunity as a means of making higher education more attainable,” Dominguez-Heithoff said. “To my surprise, I won Miss Teen USA in 2017 and was whisked away to New York City where the Miss Universe Organization is headquartered. Shortly after winning, I began my freshman year at the University of Kansas.”
Her biggest motivations in her pageant journey have been her family and community. She considers herself very fortunate to have been born into a family that instilled the importance of service to others through social justice, and she has taken that value with her throughout her life and career.
“So much of my motivation comes from my parents,” Dominguez-Heithoff said. “Both of my parents come from humble means and have worked hard for everything they have. My father is an immigrant from TorreónCoahuila, Mexico and I am constantly motivated by his courage in immigrating to this country for a better life for me and my brother. My mother is a farmer’s daughter from Elgin, Neb. who grew up working on her family’s farm and began her nursing career in the US Air Force before she was honorably discharged due to cancer.”
Winning Miss Missouri Teen USA gave her confidence to make the leap to the next level, but her goal going into the Miss Teen USA pageant was never to win.
“I was so honored to even be at the pageant,” Dominguez-Heithoff said. “I wanted to make sure I had as much fun as possible, and it ultimately worked out well for me. When I won Miss Teen USA, I was completely shocked. I was most confident in the interview portion of the competition and was so happy that I got to make it to the top 5 to be able to speak on stage, winning was the icing on the cake.”
While pursuing Miss America or Miss USA pageants was an option, her goal right now is to finish her law degree in May 2023, pass the California Bar Examination, and begin her career as a big law attorney.
She credits Park Hill South High School for providing her with a good education.
“I was fortunate to also have parents that would help supplement my education from a lens of equity and inclusion,” Dominguez-Heithoff said. “I loved my AP US History teacher Mr. Peck because he was never fearful of necessary, yet uncomfortable conversations about our history. I also enjoyed participating in cross country and danced at the KC Ballet and Catherine’s Dance Studio. I graduated high school in three years because I was very eager to start my college life and continue to learn more.”
Dominguez-Heithoff’s father always stressed the importance of education when she was growing up. He was the first generation in his family to graduate from high school, and ultimately went on to receive a Master’s Degree.
“His success was found through education and he impressed that upon my brother and me at all times,” Dominguez-Heithoff said. “Both of my parents exposed me to many different types of careers and industries from a young age, which allowed me to think about my future. My parents also brought me to events about social justice and we always had conversations about, and engaged with politics as a means to prevent oppression. These early experiences and conversations solidified my desire to become an attorney. I am proud to have almost completed that dream.”
After attending the University of Kansas where she studied Political Science and Global & International Studies, she graduated from KU in three years and immediately started law school at the University of Southern California.
The second semester of her first year of law school, she applied to the International Human Rights Clinic. “It was one of the main reasons why I decided to attend USC Law,” Dominguez-Heithoff said. “I served as a student attorney in the clinic during my second year of law school. As a student attorney in the International Human Rights Clinic, I represented Latin American human trafficking survivors through the US immigration system, monitored a trial of a human rights defender in Kyrgyzstan, and aided Afghan refugees in submitting permanent residency applications and lobbied Congress members for continued support.”
During her time in law school she has been involved with many organizations. Her proudest role was serving as the President of the Latino Law Students Association, the largest affinity group at USC Gould School of Law. Her advocacy with the administration helps create/fund raise for three-named scholarships dedicated to Latino law students. She spent her first year of law school summer externing in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Central District of California in which she worked on public corruption and civil rights cases. During her second year she worked as a summer associate at Latham & Watkins in their Washington D.C. and Los Angeles offices. She was also a pro bono scholar and spent the majority of her summer working on pro bono immigration, refugee and asylum work, but also worked on international transactional work.
“My internship with the US Mission to the United Nations was the first time I felt capable of becoming an international agent of change,” Dominguez-Heithoff said. “After my internship I was even more excited to apply to law school and pursue international law.”
Attending UN Security Council meetings was surreal for her.
“I was in the room where the world’s largest powerhouses were debating and negotiating some of the world’s biggest problems. I routinely worked with US diplomats and diplomats from all over the world.
Learning about some of the world’s gravest atrocities while in Security Council meetings gave me an even stronger commitment to work with, and help solve some of these problems. I knew I could do that more effectively with a law degree, and look forward to maintaining an active pro bono practice dedicated to human rights work.”
Grateful for the pageant scholarships that helped her, and many others, Dominguez-Heithoff is looking forward to maintaining a dynamic law practice and vows to never forget why she came to law school in the first place: to protect immigrant families, like her own, and work to remedy some of the global atrocities she was exposed to at UN Security Council meetings.
The Miss Teen USA program provides more than $7 million in scholarships annually and has awarded more than $40 million in scholarships over the years.
“I am constantly aware of how privileged I am to have grown up in my zip code, been born into a family who values education, and am able to fit into many different ethnic communities due to the color of my skin and my features,” Dominguez-Heithoff said. “I know that these things and more have opened doors and provided access to spaces that normally are not open to daughters of Mexican immigrants and Nebraska farmers. One of the most empowering things I do is mentor up-and-coming first-generation, female, minority, and/or immigrant lawyers. I am constantly trying to pave the way for those who come after me as many powerful attorneys have done before me. I would most like to see a world in which zip codes, race/ethnicity, and gender do not limit access and instead are viewed as assets to contribute to a diverse professional world.”