Beauty opts for law career

      Vicki Franklin fancies herself a young Tyra Banks.
      "I can relate to her," said Franklin, 16, referring to the supermodel whose fame continues to skyrocket. "I can see myself headed in the same direction."
      Of late, Franklin, a young model, has been on a Banks-like roll. Last month she added the Miss Nevada Teen USA crown to a short but impressive rŽsumŽ and earned a shot at winning the Miss Teen USA title in August.
      Modeling is the last item on this native Las Vegan's stacked activities menu that includes serving as junior class president and student council representative, varsity cheerleading, running track, singing, dancing and National Honor Society membership. Like Banks, the Eldorado High junior entered modeling to find another outlet for her seemingly boundless energy.
      "I have always loved to entertain, to perform and to be the center of attention," said Franklin, who lives in North Las Vegas. "Modeling was just another way for me to do it."
      Franklin began singing at age 3. She followed her younger sister, Kayla, down the beauty-pageanVIEW-Dec-22-Mon-1997Vicki Franklin, then 10, prodded her mom to let her compete in a beauty pageant too. Though she did not win the pageant, Franklin got hooked on modeling.
      Not surprising, says her mom Karen Johnson.
      "Vicki is outgoing, enjoys being onstage and likes to be involved in different things," Johnson said. "She likes competing and performing."
      A fierce competitor, Franklin left nothing to chance with the Miss Teen Nevada USA contest. The four-day pageant which began Oct. 30 was held in the Nicholas J. Horn Auditorium at Community College Southern Nevada's Cheyenne campus. Franklin studied past pageants, talked with contestants, compared notes and asked questions. The work paid off.
      "I didn't enter the (Miss Nevada Teen USA) pageant to win," Franklin said. "I entered with my mind set on competing and performing. Winning the pageant was a big surprise."
      Franklin said her whirlwind success has been as fast as it has been unexpected.
      After winning a local pageant, the 1995 Petite Model Search, she took home the sweepstakes and photogenic titles at the J & J Nevada State Pageant. That victory let her compete in the Our Diamond Miss National Pageant in Oklahoma City.
      She took the crown again.
      "I didn't expect to win," she said of the Oklahoma City pageant. "It was my second time going to a national pageant. I was excited just to be there. Many girls try five and six times to get into a national pageant, I got to one on my second try and I won. I couldn't believe it."
      The hot streak continued this past summer. Franklin again brought home titles from the state pageant and the Oklahoma City contest.
      She hopes her fast-track success carries through to next August and the Miss Teen USA Pageant, tentatively set for South Padre Island, Texas.
      Franklin declined to speculate on her chances, saying only that being the first Nevadan to win the national crown would be special.
      Johnson said a victory next August would let her daughter remove from the nation's psyche the negative stigma attached to Las Vegas.
      "You never see anything good about Las Vegas (on national television)."
      If modeling fame comes, fine, Franklin said. But she wants to shine in another frenetic profession.
      "My goal is to be a lawyer, not a supermodel," she said. "If becoming a supermodel happens, that's great ... but who's to say I can't be a lawyer and a supermodel?"