GUILDERLAND — When Emma Harbeck competed this past weekend for the Miss New York title in the Miss America competition, she sang the song “Reflection” from the ​​1998 Disney film based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan.

Mulan spares her grandfather by disguising herself as a boy so she can become a warrior in his stead.

“Somehow I cannot hide who I am, though I’ve tried,” Harbeck sang to the Miss America judges in Peekskill. “When will my reflection show who I am inside?”

“I think the whole point of the song is a girl talking about how she feels like she can’t be herself because she’s trying to please other people,” says Harbeck in this week’s Enterprise podcast. “And I think … that as girls in the organization, we’re obviously teens and we’re growing and we’re learning … I really wanted to have a piece that myself and other girls could relate to, so that’s why I chose that song.”

Harbeck, 17, is a Guilderland High School junior and Miss Capital Region Outstanding Teen. She has a passion for singing, she says, and sings in both the concert choir and the chamber choir at her school. She also played the part of Clarissa in the school musical last year, “Little Women.”

Harbeck is an athlete as well, playing on the school’s varsity volleyball team. “Being an athlete is an outlet,” she says. When she’s angry, it relieves her stress. 

When she performs as a singer, Harbeck says, she has a sense of “working together to create art” whereas when she plays volleyball, “sometimes you’re competing against your own teammates,” she says.

With the Miss America competition, Harbeck says, it feels more like making music together than like competing against someone in sports. “It’s hard to be a team when you’re like fighting for a position or fighting for the title of captain,” Harbeck said of sports.

But, with the Miss America competition, she said, “You are all looking to do the same thing …. Obviously, we’re still competing against each other, but we’re also friends, cheering each other on.”

When Harbeck had watched Miss America competitions on television, she had assumed it was a facade when the contest was down to just two women and the loser hugged the winner. “Like it was just for show … because it’s just TV, like when everything can be fake,” she says.

But, having been in competitions, Harbeck learned the affection was real, she said. “It’s really similar to music in that you really are like friends with everyone,” she said.

The Miss America competition, formerly called a pageant, has evolved over the years.

It started in 1921 as a “bathing beauty revue” but now the contest is decided by judges based on talent performances and interviews. The bathing suit competition has been replaced with a fitness workout routine.

Harbeck has been posting about the controversy at Albany High School where the girls on the track team wanted to wear sports bras as the boys were shirtless during a hot afternoon practice. “I experienced that on the track team, too,” she said.

Showing the judges a fitness routine is “a lot better” than being judged in a bathing suit, Harbeck said, noting, “A fitness aspect in your life versus how you look in a swimsuit … that actually matters.”

“I just think that how you look, how you’re shaped … everyone is beautiful,” says Harbeck. “Miss America is all about your character, who you are, how you affect other people.”

Although Habeck said she would love to represent New York at the national competition, she was not expecting to win. This is her first year; she called it “a learning year.”

One of the things she has learned is not to be afraid. “I’ve always had stage fright,” she said.

A friend, now 21, who has been guiding Harbeck through the competition process has been through many of the levels of competition: Junior Princess, Princess, Junior Teen, Teen, Miss.

“Most girls start when they’re like 6,” she said.

Another part of the competition is having a “social-impact initiative.” Harbeck’s is called “Love is just a four-legged word,” promoting awareness of the importance of service animals.

Harbeck, with her mother, is raising a Labrador retriever puppy named Hint as part of the Canine Companions program. They’ve had Hint for two or three months and have until March to teach him 30 basic commands.

After that, Hint will go for more specialized training, Harbeck said. For instance if Hint is paired with a veteran, he may be trained specifically for post-traumatic stress disorder, Harbeck said.

Harbeck is friends with Guilderland student Will Gibney who was matched with a service dog named Toshi when he was 12 years old. Toshi changed his life, giving him confidence and independence. Gibney last year wrote a book about Toshi.

“Learning about my friend’s experiences with his service animal and … how he has become more independent really inspired me,” said Harbeck.

Although Harbeck has thought about several different careers, right now she thinks she’d like to become a lawyer. Even though she describes herself as a “math person,” she’s looking forward to taking a course in forensics next year because she says it would fit with law studies.

Harbeck concluded with this advice: “If you’re a young girl and you’re looking to make friends and meet new people and be able to talk about something you’re really passionate about and show your talent, you would join Miss America because it’s really amazing.”