Confession of A Pageant Girl!!!

I wanna first say I am not your average pageant girl. Matter of fact I'm not a pageant girl at all. However I think thats exactly what the Miss America Organization strives for .. to give hopes and dreams to all young women. With that being said last year I participated in the Miss Norfolk State University, few know that it is actually an official preliminary for Miss Virginia. Anyway I did the pageant, mind you I'm a tomboy, not acquainted with makeup and I hate high heels. lol but I did the pageant. and let me tell you.. IT WAS WONDERFUL! I mean it made me feel like a woman. I felt so confident! I enjoyed me and for once I was proud of me! All of the years I tried to find an activity that was right for me and I did. So I became borderline addicted. After the Miss NSU (of course I didn't win) I did Miss Coastal Virginia, and the Miss NSU again. Recently I competed in the Miss Tidewater-Peninsula pageant and finally.... I PLACED! I got third runner up and I was so excited so that drove me to try one more time, so I signed up for the Miss Portsmouth Seawall pageant. And then thats where the problem starts.After placing in the Miss Tidewater-Peninsula pageant I was told some things had to change if I was serious about contending in this pageant. I was told that if I wanted to actually get to Miss Virginia I had a lot of work to do. I was told to change my wardrobe and change my hair. I had to really work on my talent. Well talent can be fixed all that needs is practice but when you are talking about wardrobes and hair styles... THAT REQUIRES MONEY. Now I had been doing well on budgets but now I can't afford any of this. I can see my dreams being washed away and it definitely is a terrible feeling. What am I going to do?