11 years ago, today, I was a shy 18 year old girl freaking out about being on stage in front of hundreds of people in a swimsuit.
Got your attention?
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| May 5, 2002 - Miss Philippines pageant |
11 years ago tomorrow, I was a shy 18 year old girl who overcame those nerves and was crowned Miss Philippines - Toronto (PIDC to be exact and the first with that title).
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| Newly crowned Miss |
I
am shy. I have always been shy. To those of you who know me, I'm not
lying ... I may be loud and confident now, but deep down, the girl inside is still
shy. I don't think I'll ever get over that - does anyone? BUT the
important thing is, I got over the nervousness, the stage fright, the
idea of having people I know and don't know looking at me. I got over
it, I had too. Being thrust in the spotlight does that to a person.
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Talent Portion - been dancing
since I was 7 |
I
had no choice and on top of that, I had no formal training. I was
basically called up to stages in front of an intimate gatherings without
preparation or knowledge and hoped to the good Lord that everything
would go well. I was told I would be the MAIN master of ceremonies for
the largest Filipino festival in Canada without a clue as to how to MC
anything! I was told I had to dance and MC concerts with big name
Filipino stars at sold out concerts without a) knowing who they were and
b) what I was realllllly suppose to do. But I did all of these, and more!
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The Q&A Portion aka
Make it or break it
This is what I was scared of...b/c I was shy! |
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I
dove into everything that year head first! Something scary before, but
now, it's what I prefer to do :) I was told I exceeded expectations
and I learned to love everything about what I was doing in the
spotlight. Which is the reason I do what I do now. Today I'm involved
in many organizations as a communications consultant, event coordinator,
media liaison, directress, and I'm even a sought out MC!
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| "And the winner is.....(longest wait ever).....Candidate #3" |
To this day, no matter what I find myself getting involved in, I have my one year experience as a pageant contestant and a "Beauty Queen" to thank. I don't know what type of person I would be today had I not gone through this once in a lifetime process...probably still that shy girl. It may sound cliche, but it's true!
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Rebecka 1st RU, Me Miss, Christie 2nd RU
Both fantastic and beautiful!!! |
The organization that I have to give big props too is: Philippine Independence Day Council http://pidctoronto.com/
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The best girls!
During one of our many Monday night practices in Markham
*missing Kim |
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Awarding Portion...who will it be?
All of these women are beautiful, in and out! |
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The making of the swimsuit portion...
- Practice...I think we spent more time on the swimsuit routine then any other portion of the pageant
- Pageant night: when it's your turn, take a deep breath, go out on the stage and own it. Your personality comes out best in this portion, so have fun!
- Once everyone has presented themselves, get ready for the "routine". We did our dance (did I mention we did a dance?) to J-Lo's "Aint it funny"
- Dance with your partner
- Dance with everyone
- Take your sarong off (count to five)
- all the while SMILING!
- get off the stage and get ready for the next scary bit, the Q&A portion
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| Practice, practice, practice |
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| Backstage behind the scenes: last min practice and last min prep |
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| Working it |
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| As much as ladies dread this bit, it was the best bit of the pageant |
