Meet Miss USA 2024 Alma Cooper, the Army officer who hopes to become the 10th American woman to win Miss Universe

"Pageants were like the Super Bowl in my household," Cooper told Business Insider after she won the Miss USA title in August. "This really all started from watching at home and being inspired by other women who have walked that same stage."

Cooper's mother had competed in the Miss America system, paying for pageant fees with money she made teaching dance classes. When Cooper decided to compete at Miss Michigan Teen USA, she followed her mother's example.

"I got a job at Auntie Anne's, the pretzel shop, so I could pay my own pageant fees because I wanted to compete so badly," Cooper said. "I didn't have a coach or anything."

Cooper bought her dress for Miss Michigan Teen USA 2016 on Facebook Marketplace. The second year she competed, in 2017, she placed first runner-up.

The pageant queen told BI that she went to West Point with a vision board with pictures of former Miss Michigan USA winners. She wanted to be the first active-duty Army officer to win the competition.

Cooper is now a Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University, where she's pursuing a master's degree in data science.

"Being at West Point, it built my character," Cooper said. "It's a place where every single person is committed to a culture of excellence, to being part of something bigger than themselves."

"I carry that with me throughout every aspiration and pursuit that I go through — whether that be at Stanford, whether that be an officer in the Army, whether that be at Miss USA," she added.

"Being able to be intrinsically motivated, to have personal courage, is one of the Army values," she said. "And to get onstage in front of millions of people, a nationally televised audience, and wear a swimsuit — that, in and of itself, is one way to display personal courage and believe in oneself."

During the interview round, Cooper, who represented Michigan at the pageant, discussed her unique journey to the Miss USA stage.

"As the daughter of a migrant worker, a proud Afro-Latina woman, and an officer of the United States Army, I'm living the American dream," Cooper said during the competition. "If there's anything that my life and my mother have taught me, it's that your circumstances never define your destiny."

Cooper later told BI that she wants to use her platform as Miss USA to uplift "the voices of individuals whose stories may not be heard, whose stories may not be shown."

"I think the biggest thing that can be taken away from my story is that if you are someone who wants to do it all, you truly can," she added. "There are no limits on yourself except the ones that you accept."

Cooper was crowned by Savannah Gankiewicz, who assumed the title of Miss USA 2023 after Noelia Voigt resigned in May.

Both Voigt and Miss Teen USA 2023 UmaSofia Srivastava relinquished their crowns in the same week. It was the first time a winner had given up her title in the pageant's 72-year history.

Following their resignations, BI spoke to over a dozen people connected to Miss USA and Miss Teen USA about the controversy and how CEO Laylah Rose's leadership has impacted the organization.

Despite the scandal, Cooper has publicly praised Voigt and Srivastava.

"I've been really grateful to receive support and encouragement from Noelia and Uma," she told Today.com in September. "That's really meant a lot to me."

The winner of the 73rd annual Miss Universe competition will be crowned by Sheynnis Palacios, who was the first Miss Nicaragua to win the title.

The last American woman to win Miss Universe was R'Bonney Gabriel, who claimed the title in January 2023.