Nine-year-old Makana Tate loves her high heels.

"There is this one pair and I don't want to take them off," Tate said.

The Kilough Elementary School fourth grader was recently crowned International Junior Miss Georgia Princess for 2017.

The young beauty queen participated in the Georgia State pageant for Georgia and the southern states Jan. 6-8 in Macon.

The next stop is Nashville the week of July 3-8 where she will be representing all girls from Georgia in the 7-9 age group as she competes in the international pageant.

"There's girls coming from all over the world. There are girls from Australia, Haiti that come and compete," said Tate's mom, Kayla Wood. "Last year there were around 50-60 girls."

This is nothing new for Tate, however, as she has been competing in pageants since about birth.

"She was about six months old when she did her first," Wood said. "I just wanted to do something fun with her when she was little. And she loves doing it so we kept on going and going and now we are here."

"You do one thing and you love it, so you just keep doing it," Tate said.

She can walk in heels and handle interviews, but said she is still nervous when she is on stage.

Should she win at the next event, she would be unable to compete for the entire next year as she served as spokesperson for the system.

"They take them on Disney cruises, a trip to Australia," Wood said.

Tate competes in categories of casual wear, photogenic, spokesmodel, fun fashion, evening gown and interview.

"There are three judges and she sits with them one at a time," Wood said. "They speak to the judges one-on-one and they will judge her on attire and how she speaks and how she presents herself."

"I was so scared of interviewing and then it's like my high scores are interview," Tate said.

This is what Tate likes, along with acrobatics and cheerleading, which she does through TKO in Dawsonville.

When she grows up, Tate said she wants to be a scientist, a teacher and a marine biologist.

For now she is getting ready for her international competition.

"She has won a lot," Wood said. "She has carried a lot of titles, but this is the biggest she has done so far.

"We have been ready for a while," Wood said.