NEW YORK CITY - Moses Lake High School 2006 graduate Karol Scott Tracy finished third in a recent national search for Our Latin Beauty and missed out on $250,000 and a TV reporting contract.

But Scott Tracy doesn't lament the final result nor having tried. Her appearance opened some doors and is opening others. And she was surprised she made it to the final four.

"I was in danger of elimination lots of times," she said.

Thousands of contestants entered from all over the USA. Hundreds attended the audition in New York City, from where Scott Tracy was selected, along with five other girls.

"There were 300 girls at the New York audition. There were three times that many in LA," she said.

Scott Tracy, who represented her native Venezuela, did not lack beauty or talent. She lacked clout.

The Univision Network Spanish-language contest was like American Idol. The TV audience from all over the world had the final vote.

"Venezuela is a very small country compared to many others where Spanish is spoken," Scott Tracy said. "For people in Puerto Rico, it's a local call. For Venezuela it's international long distance."

Scott Tracy got as far as she did because the studio judges liked her. One called her "best of them all" when the run of the show started, and he stuck to his guns to the end. But the television audience had other ideas.

"It's an amazing experience for anybody," Scott Tracy said. "You learn so much. You learn about yourself."

Scott Tracy, 24, and married to U.S. Navy EOD tech Johnny Betancourt, has lived away from Moses Lake since graduation. She joined the U.S. Army right out of high school.

"I didn't have the amazing grades I needed to get scholarships," she said. "My best friend was going in. I signed the contract and left within a week. I've never regretted it."

Scott Tracy's Army experience included a one-year deployment to Iraq. It was scary she said, and an explosion near her post came much closer than she wanted.

"I kind of grew up," she said. "You're really alone, and you have to take care of yourself."

After her discharge, Scott Tracy took up residence in New Jersey so she could study international business at Berkeley College in New York City. She has one quarter left to finish her degree. Then she'll have to contemplate her options.

"I wanted to own my own business, something sports related," she said. "I didn't want to work for anybody."

"Mom and dad were always in business," she added.

The Nuestra Belleza Latina competition was quite interesting behind the scenes. The contestants had to agree to be out of communication with family and friends for the duration.

"We didn't get to watch the shows. We weren't able to watch TV," she said.

When the show came down to five contestants for four finals slots, Tracy was nervous. It was a chance at everything or the end of everything.

"Well I'm happy to have made it this far, but I hope I keep going," she thought.

Then studio judge Osmel Sousa, who could choose one contestant to go on, called her name. She was saved and elated.

"I did feel like he was going to pick me," Scott Tracy said.

During the course of the show, Scott Tracy won several prizes and $20,000. She picked up another $2,500 on a Univision game show called Sabado Gigante (Giant Saturday).

Since that time, Scott Tracy has had conversations with Telemundo TV and a network in Venezuela.

"The show made it easy for (me) to talk to them," Scott Tracy said.