As a student at CIM, she was elected President of the Mu Phi Epsilon professional music fraternity and served for 2 terms.

As a senior in high school at Northside College Preparatory H.S.,[2] Buchheit competed in several local preliminaries of the Miss America Organization.

[4] During her college years at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Buchheit competed in the Miss Ohio pageant twice.

She entered the Miss Illinois pageant at the Marion Cultural and Civic Center in June 2014 as one of 31 qualifiers for the state title.

She was named a Preliminary Talent Winner for her performance of "Je veux vivre" from the opera Roméo et Juliette by Gounod.

[8] Buchheit won the competition on Saturday, June 14, 2014, receiving her crown from outgoing Miss Illinois 2013 Brittany Smith.

Buchheit was Illinois' representative at the Miss America 2015 pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in September 2014.

In January 2012, Buchheit released a debut album of 6 original songs entitled Mari Therese: All Yours.