When most people think about pageants, they think of beauty, bikinis and high heels. Senior Alexia Robinson thinks differently.

The biochemistry major and St. Louis native is competing for the 2015 Miss Missouri USA crown. Robinson said she aspires to motivate and inspire women of color while promoting a positive image of Missouri to the nation and bringing awareness to important overlooked social issues.

However, Robinson said it’s not only her aspirations that make her deserving of the crown, but her challenging past that led her to pageantry.

While in high school, Robinson faced many adversities. She was bullied, she didn’t have many friends and her relationship with her parents was struggling. It was during her junior year that she met her first boyfriend.

“He was really nice to me, and I hadn’t had anyone nice to me like that before,” Robinson said.

As their relationship progressed, Robinson said her boyfriend began to emotionally abuse her. It wasn’t until one day during gym class that the physical abuse began.

“There was a guy that came up to me and said ‘hi’,” Robinson said. “My ex-boyfriend became convinced that I was cheating on him with the guy. He punched me into the locker and he just kept repetitively hitting me. A couple hours later he apologized and I forgave him. That was the first time.”

Their relationship lasted for three and a half years until Robinson’s junior year of college, when her boyfriend attempted to kill her during an argument and was arrested with two felonies. After their breakup, Robinson lost most of her self-confidence.

One weekend, Robinson was watching an episode of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” and noticed that cast member Kenya Moore, former Miss USA 1993, became offended when someone accidentally called her Miss America instead of Miss USA.

The winner of Miss USA qualifies to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, whereas Miss America is mostly known for its scholarships. Robinson researched this difference between the two pageants and saw an opportunity to transform her situation into something positive.

“I started off in the Miss America system,” Robinson said. “When I did my first local pageant, I did relatively well. I got third in that one, but even though I got third, in my mind, I was the 100 percent winner. That was my first time doing something for me.”

Since Robinson began competing in pageants, her self-confidence has been built up again. It’s a change that even her friends, like Latosha Singleton, have noticed.

“Lexi never gives up,” Singleton said. “She always gains something positive from her failures and makes them into something to motivate her for the future. She’s been through a lot. To see her confidence raised and her determination raised, I feel like she can really help girls who’ve been in her same situation on a more personal level.”

Natalie Gilbert, another close friend of Robinson, said she supports Robinson’s ambition to reach out and help others.

“I feel that her getting through domestic violence and moving on shows that no matter what happens, you can strive to go above and beyond,” Gilbert said.

Robinson said she is concerned with many current social issues, especially those embodied by the unrest in Ferguson following the shooting of Mike Brown. She plans to use her potential win as a way to promote positive change within the area.

“Pageants offer the opportunities for the title holder to receive a lot of media attention, and I would use my media attention to broadcast myself giving speeches and encouraging the kids in the schools in that area to go to college and make right decisions,” Robinson said. “I think it would also be good for them to see a successful black female that has also had struggles and is close to their age range, but still managed to overcome it and accomplish a lot.”

Today, Robinson devotes much of her time to volunteering and supporting important social issues, such as violence against women, clean eating, suicide prevention and education. The Miss Missouri USA Pageant will be held Nov. 8.

“I’ve had so many things happen to me, but yet I still find compassion in my heart to help other people and still try to be an idol to other people,” Robinson said. “That’s what I really want to do with the title when I do win … to give back and show other women that there is hope and that you don’t have to be in that situation.”