The 20-year-old Polson resident made it through the first episode last week, where the field of 17 young women was pared to 10 battling for the grand prize: the cover girl spot in February's Seventeen magazine, an internship with the magazine and a college scholarship.
Although taping for the series ended last summer in New York City, Burrowes isn't telling how long she was in Manhattan for the taping or how she fared in the high-pressure competition - she's not allowed to by MTV's orders. But the journalism student said she doesn't think she wants to participate in a reality show again.
After the first episode, an Associated Press story said the young women to watch are “Savannah, the sweet Texan who likes to knit; little miss politician, Jill; and Brianne the complainer.”
She's not thrilled with the description, but that comes with the territory of reality programming, Burrowes said. “In reality TV, you never know what they are going to label you.”
Burrowes first learned about the program and competition through a mass e-mail Seventeen magazine sent out to its readers.
“When I saw the ad,” she said, “I thought this would be a good opportunity.” Working at the magazine has always been a dream, and she has always admired Atoosa Rubenstein, the magazine's editor-in-chief and the youngest person to hold such a position in the history of the Hearst magazine empire.
Burrowes filled out the application and sent in a video of herself last spring. The last week in June, she got a phone call saying she had been chosen as one of the 17 candidates.
A week later, Burrowes was flown to New York City, where, as part of the competition, she was forced to live with the other 16 candidates in a two-bathroom loft in the city's financial district, with cameras taping the stress-packed environment of close-quartered strangers around the clock.
Throughout the episodes, the candidates face sudden elimination at the whim of Rubenstein, who said in a press release that she looking for all the best qualities of a Seventeen reader: intelligence, honesty, kindness, good judgement, loyalty and leadership.
Contestants don't know that their eliminations are not solely based on performance, but also on their behavior when they think the cameras aren't rolling.
In each episode, the candidates are put in a real-life situation designed to reveal their character. In one episode, they must write an article on how to experience New York City on $20 a day. In another, they take a crash course in the world of high-fashion modeling.
Burrowes said the experience has been character building, and she has learned an important lesson.
“I know I can stand on my own two feet,” she said. “While I was there, I didn't have any contact within my support system - my family, my sisters, my friends.” When facing future stressful situations while far from home, Burrowes said she now knows “I'll still come out OK.”
Burrowes said she doesn't feel like a television star.
“I don't think I'm a star,” she said. “But it goes to show people - girls in Montana - that if you set your sights high and have determination, you can do some cool things.”
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