She may be a queen, but ISU student Laura Dierickx doesn’t expect any special treatment on campus.Dierickx, freshman in agricultural education, was crowned the Iowa Pork Queen Jan. 24.”I was very surprised to win,” Dierickx said. “I was against 21 great young ladies, and I did not expect to get the honor.”As queen, Dierickx will help in promoting Iowa and education. She will be speaking at county events such as meetings and banquets, helping with promotions at the Iowa State Fair in August and act as an ambassador for the Iowa Pork Industry, she said. Dierickx will serve as queen for one year.Joyce Hoppes, consumer information director of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, said the first pork queen was crowned in 1960. The Iowa Pork Producers Association sponsors the competition, which has contestants selected from different counties where they are involved in promotion and education programs, Hoppes said.Dierickx said she spent a lot of time getting ready for the contest.”I prepared for the competition by preparing my speech, reading different magazines and articles, speaking to my father and learned the basic facts and about the pork industry,” she said.The competition is very comprehensive, Hoppes said. Contestants participate in a 10-minute interview with the judges, a 5-minute speech in front of a crowd and an impromptu question. Hoppes said the participants also choose an item and explain how the item is relevant to the pork industry and themselves. During the competition, contestants also help promote pork products and are judged on that aspect as well, Hoppes said. After judges have narrowed the group down to six contestants, they are asked a question by the judges, Hoppes said. The judges select first place, the queen, and second place, the princess.Besides doing well in the competition, there are other requirements.”To become a contestant, you had to be a county queen, and your parents must be members of the Iowa Pork Producers Association,” said Dierickx, who was the Scott County pork queen in 2000. “There is also some incentive, since the winner gets a scholarship.”