Miss America 2003 Erika Harold, Miss America 2003. "Harold, the oldest of four children, began competing in pageants when she was 18 and won the Miss Illinois pageant on her third try. Among her competitors in the state pageant this year was her 20-year-old her sister, Alexandra Harold. Harold said she plans to promote anti-violence and anti-bullying programs during her yearlong reign. She chose the cause because of personal experience: As a ninth grader, she was bullied and harassed, both racially and sexually, and had to change schools to escape it, she said. For winning the Miss America title, Harold gets $50,000 in scholarship aid to add to the $30,000 in scholarships she'd already amassed competing in the Miss America system."