SOMA Pageant

Many people believe beauty pageants are over rated but let’s be honest who doesn’t want to feel like a princess every once in a while. Pageants are a good way for children to realize you always have to do your best and work to achieve your goal. Granted children don’t always win but in reality all that’s doing is preparing them for all the life events they are going to go through. Pageants are about more than winning; they teach life lessons and let the children express themselves. Nothing is wrong with setting children up for success, at least this way they get to have fun and learn.

Pageants are just like sports, kids play football and basketball and even are on swim teams and nobody says anything negative about that. Pageants are just like sports, you are competing against one another and everybody wants to win. When children play sports they don’t always win and that can be just as hard on a child. If a child is on a team and the team loses the teammates point out every mistake making the children feel like it was there fault they lost. Let children explore and decide what they enjoy doing, there is going to be bad to everything they do but just remember how much joy the get out of the good. The pageant was more exhausting and a lot more work than I have expected. Most people think we just walk around the blocks and look pretty, but it is more tiring than you think. The most exhausting part for me was to smile for a long time for pictures.

There are many different ranks in a beauty pageant; there is not just one winner. The prizes given out depend on what rank you get. Beauty pageants give out a variety of prizes, each pageant is different but prizes may include money, animals, and even scholarships. So not only do pageants help set children up for success and build their confidence they also help pay for schooling.   Pageants are a great opportunity and everybody should take advantage of them.

This is just some information about what is it like to compete in a beauty pageant, especially when it’s your first time. I just want to grab this chance to give thanks to all the people who supported me along the way. So again, my name is Rachel Camille Martinez, 17 years old, Abma 154! (Hahaha) This was my first pageant that I have ever entered. It was a great experience and It takes a lot of courage and confidence to walk across the stage. I already felt blessed for having the “Formal wear” and “Face of the night” award but then the host called my number when she was announcing the top 5, I was like “ seryoso ba to?”, “di nga?”, “shet may Q&A na naman”. I was the only one who answered the question in Filipino, “ang wikang ating kinagisnan” (hahaha), I just got really nervous that time. But it was really a great experience, I just want to know how it feels when you’re the one in the stage or the chance to wrear 5 inches high heels, like it’s my dream to have 5 feet and above. Ate Katreena and ate Charmaine thank you for lending me your heels. That’s all really wanted, haha just kidding. Anyway, I am so proud of all the candidates, organizers who participated in the pageant, especially to our Mr. and Ms. SOMA 20162 1st runner up, Alex Oliveros and Chelsea Dave (woooh, throws confetti hahaha) This was an experience I will never forget. (Kuya John, MY FAMILY. HAHAHA.)

I made close friends, perhaps it was because I was not very competitive, I ended up becoming very close to many of the girls. My mindset was to try my best and make the best out of it. No pressure whatsoever. I even became very close to the girls I met through the pageant. We don’t see each other very often since we came from different blocks, but we now have friends in every single corner of the school. 

It was an exhausting weekend, but I was so proud to walk that stage and show off all my hard work, thanks to mom Dorie for supporting me through out, to my sister Roxy for admitting that I really am the prettiest between us, to my hair and make-up artists, Jerome and Pat, thank you for me making pretty that night, to my designer, kuya Ren thank you for everything from making the desing to making my tattoo haha, to all my friends who helped me make my costumes, Ate Debbie, Ate Mio, Kuya Paolo and Kuya Chino, also to my beloved friend, Lois, Thank you for lending me your gown. And to the man I love, Ayo thank you for all the support and everything, from the start to bottom, I love you. Of course,   To my dad, Mandy for supporting me even though he’s not here. And last but not the least, to God, who really made this possible.

Believe that you can do it and you will do it, whatever it is. Don’t live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.