CORTLAND — Dreaming big is something that Deneen Penn has done as long as she can remember.

The 20-year-old Kent State University student last month achieved a dream by winning 2018’s Miss Ohio USA, which could lead to her winning Miss USA and then compete for the Miss Universe title.

Penn, an often-smiling Cortland resident, plans to use her year as Miss Ohio USA as a platform to encourage children to dream big and work to be the best in whatever they seek.

“This is such an amazing opportunity,” Penn said. “I will use this crown and sash as a megaphone to encourage everyone, especially young people, to dream big. I want to go into schools and have career days in which kids will dress up in the clothing of careers in which they want to be involved.”

“I, first of all, give thanks to God for giving me this opportunity to use this position to share his glory,” she said.

Raised in a religious household, Penn said everything she is, has and will achieve has been through the grace of God.

One of two daughters of Jeff and Diane Penn, the Kent State University at Trumbull business administration major described watching her parents working hard to become skilled in their careers as an electrician and a nurse while raising their children.

Penn was born and raised in Andover and graduated from Maplewood High School in 2015.

Although she has won the Miss Ohio USA title, Penn expects to continue working so she will be able to complete her business administration degree, and later earn a second degree in architecture, without having student loan debt.

Although competing in numerous beauty pageants over the last decade, it is not something she always believed she would do.

“When I was in middle school, I wore glasses, had braces and acne,” she said. “Even when I was in high school, I was not one of the popular kids.”

“I hung around people who cared about me and who I cared about,” she said. “It was important to have healthy relationships and surround yourself with positive people.”

Penn began competing in beauty pageants in 2007 when a friend of her mother asked if her two daughters could compete in the Little Miss Pymatuning Pageant because there were not enough contestants.

It was then that Penn, and her older sister, LeAnn, caught the pageant bug.

Penn won Little Miss Pymatuning that year and won Miss Pymatuning in 2013, then Miss Trumbull County Fair in 2014, and Miss Ohio Collegiate in 2017.

Penn and LeAnn, now a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and a biology major, regularly competed together and often won different contests during the same year, so they often traveled with and supported one another.

On Nov. 12, when competing in the last round for the Miss Ohio USA competition at the Kuss Auditorium in Springfield, Penn now admits she did not believe she would win.

Diane Penn credits her daughter’s positive attitude, motivation and generosity for her success.

“I am so excited to be a part of her journey to the national stage for Miss USA,” Diane Penn said. “She is her true self, a genuine girl grounded to her core values as a Christian and promoting The Dream Big Program.”

Her father, Jeff Penn, expressed pride that their daughter has been able to accomplish so much based on her own initiative and self-motivation.

As the winner of the Miss Ohio USA pageant, Penn is eligible to receive three $5,000 per year scholarships at Lindwood University in St. Charles, Mo.,, and has been awarded two modeling contracts.

Where someone goes to college, or even if someone does not attend college, won’t determine their success, she said.

“People remember the kind of person who you are,” she said. “They remember how you treat them, how much energy you apply yourself and what you do to become the best at what you’re doing.”

rsmith@tribtoday.com