On Saturday night, when most Harvard students will be taking advantage of the weekend before classes start, Marcia M. Turner '97 will be walking on stage in a black evening gown at the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City.

Turner, a government concentrator from Wenatchee, Wash. and a Lowell House resident, won the Miss Massachusetts Pageant earlier this year.

Her main reason for entering the pageant was to do all she could for her community, she said.

"I didn't decide to run until I was really convinced it could be made into a year of service," she said in a telephone interview Wednesday from Atlantic City. "The more people give to me, the more I just want to give back."

She has already been in the New Jersey gambling town for more than two weeks, rehearsing for the pageant for about 10 hours a day and meeting the other 49 contestants.

"I can honestly say that I have enjoyed getting to know the other people," she said.

Something that takes getting used to is being accompanied by a security guard or hostess everywhere she goes, she said.

Recently, she tried to disguise herself to go walking along the Atlantic City boardwalk, she said. Even so, people recognized her and came up to her to wish her good luck.

Being in the pageant has its perks. Before the 50 contestants arrived in New Jersey, they went to Florida's Disneyworld, she said.

"We got to cut to the front of the lines," she said happily.

She has had no lack of visitors. Early this week, when the contestants were allowed to see visitors for a short period. Turner saw her parents and friends.

Forty-five people from the West Coast and 50 people from Massachusetts have come to the pageant to support her, she said.

If Turner becomes Miss America, she will take the year off from school. Miss America travels 22,000 miles a month. Turner said, with one day off each month for rest.

Turner said Wednesday that although she did not win the talent competition, in which she played classical piano, she felt she played "Souvenirs de Andalucia" better than she ever had before.

If she doesn't win, she will still serve in Massachusetts, mainly as a spokesperson for the National Association for Partners in Education, the Boston Center for Higher Education Information, the Shriners, the America Lung Association and other educational organizations.

"I really believe that America can continue to be the land of opportunity," she said, "and I do believe that comes through education."

And if she doesn't win, there will be at least one advantage, she said.

"I am so excited to be here," she said, "but I kind of miss my friends at school."

One of her friends, who is a member of the Radcliffe Pitches along with Turner, said she is not the stereotypical beauty pageant contestant.

"Marcia has done a lot for the part of a beauty pageant you don't really think about--past the beauty and the glamour and 'stuff," said Dana D. Dore '97 of Turner's public service work.

And Dore said Turner's personality is one that makes people like her.

"She's just very genuine, which is hard to find these days," Dore said