A young woman who was bullied for the colour of her hair aims to be the first beauty queen to visit space.
Newly-crowned Miss England, Jessica Gagen, has revealed her ambitious plans as she prepares to train as an astronaut. The 27-year-old is already a budding rocket scientist in her final year of an integrated Master's degree at the University of Liverpool.
With the hopes of swapping her high heels for a space suit to become Miss Universe, she dreams of one day educating children from on board the International Space Station (ISS). Having been bullied in school for her hair colour, the beauty queen said it was "amazing" to be a model with an engineering degree.
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Jessica, from Skelmersdale said: "I hope me winning Miss England as well as my aerospace passion will show girls that they can follow their dreams and goals and be whoever they want to be. My engineering degree opens up so many doors for me and one day I hope to apply to the European Space Agency to follow my dream.
"I would love to go to space one day and I'm on the right path. After my degree is complete, I would have to complete three years in industry and then I can apply to become and astronaut.
"My dream would be to visit the International Space Station and educate kids from space and make STEM content up there like Tim Peake did. Engineering is such a male dominated industry and I want to educate kids about the different engineering roles and show that women can work in STEM too."
Jessica said she wanted to become an engineer from a young age after watching her dad work in the industry. At school she enjoyed maths and science and also signed for her first modelling agency aged 15.
She started her science degree aged 24 alongside her modelling career as she saw similar traits within both occupations. She added: "Both modelling and engineering offer so much variety as careers.
"Both jobs allow me to work on different projects every day and work all around the world. The similarities between the two industries are why I chose engineering as my back-up.
"At university, my department has never had a soon-to-be Miss World competitor also studying for a degree in aerospace engineering and they think it’s great."
In August, Jessica was crowned Miss Lancashire, which automatically gained her a place in the Miss England final. She was crowned Miss England this year in Birmingham, becoming the first redhead to ever win the beauty pageant after suffering years of bullying for being ginger.
Since winning, Jessica said her confidence has grown and she hopes her individuality will help girls love their differences and encourage them to be more confident. She added: "When I was growing up there was hardly anyone in the spotlight with red hair. I am soon to become a model with an engineering degree and I think that is amazing."
Jessica recently visited the National Space Centre in Leicester after passing it multiple times on the way to the Miss England HQ based in the city. She said: "I learnt so much at the space centre.
"I am so passionate about my degree but I only know about the mechanical side to space as opposed to the astrological facts. I always say that you learn every day and learning is for life. I want to inspire the next generation."
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