Honestly, it’s one of the few events that I look forward to when I was still in college. Because, hell, why not? It’s the only time of the year when eye candies from different nursing schools in the region strut their stuffs on stage and vie for the bragging right of being, well, PNSA’s most gorgeous.
It must be nerve-wracking to some of the candidates. I remembered joining a department-wide pageant a year ago. Oh God, it was a very exhausting and pressure-filled experience. I remember being too psyched about it, mainly because that was my first (and last) pageant evaaar and that pageant thing was for ego-boosting purposes and bragging right that I joined and won a pageant.
“Jubs, you’ll represent the team sa Nightingale”, our team leader told me. With no second thoughts, I nodded. I literally had no idea what I was going into. Bahala na, I said to myself. I was in my senior year and I just wanted to have fun. That night, I told my mom about it. At first, she disapproved. “Gastos lang yan”, she said. But in the end, I still had her blessing (and her financial assistance).
As the days for the pageant became near, I got busier and busier. I remembered waking up at the middle of the night just to practice my walk in front of this huge, huge mirror in the dormitory’s men’s room. I shopped for new clothes with my mom. I remembered spending a large portion of my weekly allowance to buy stuffs – paints, ribbons, masks blah blah. Went to rehearsal. To tell you guys, it wasn’t easy. That’s why it made me venerate guys who constantly join in this kind of events. Applause applause!
At this point, I want to thank my family for being so supportive. My mom and my two sisters showed up in the day of the pageant, brought me some snacks and dinner and was ready to cheer for me.
Hours before the pageant proper, it sunk in to me. The thought. The anxiety. I may not show outward signs of beingfor new clothes with my mom. I nervous but deep inside my vital organs were coiling. I was conscious of how, at any given moment, I might throw up. All those I thought were preparations suddenly seemed not enough. All that self-assurance suddenly went down.
Before I could realize what happened next, I was on the backstage waiting for my number to be called.
The host: “Candidate No. 5 Jubert John Marzan.” Not much of a choice. Fight or flight.When I went on stage, I saw the crowd cheering for me (but I heard someone boo-ed me, bad!). I felt so much loved. I thought: “Let’s do this! I’m actually having fun.”
After hundreds of costume changes, the preliminary Q&A was next. Everybody got a question. It was asked in English. So easy, I thought (to tell you, I didn’t really prepare for the Q&A that much). The judge asked me (I’m paraphrasing): “how would you promote breast-feeding to mothers?”. Honestly, I fumbled for an answer but managed to give one in the end. ‘Wag niyo ng itanong. Nakakahiya! At saka nakalimutan ko na. Hahaha. At this point on, I wasn’t expecting anything. I knew that my answer in the Q&A messed up my scores. My answer, I believe, wasn’t that bad but it wasn’t good either.
Then, the announcement of the Top 5 came next. I knew then and there that I won’t place. But guess what? The unexpected happened.
The host: “The last spot goes to… contestant no. 5, Jubert John Marzan!” Yaaaaay! That’s me. I didn’t saw that coming.
To make the story shorter, I made it into the Top 5 and managed to give a decent answer in the final Q&A. I didn’t win the title. I only ended up as 2nd runner up but it felt good. My family was happy. Our team was happy. I was so proud of myself. The experience taught me that “it’s not all always about winning”.
Probably the lesson of the story is that, in a competition like this one, being smart and good-looking doesn’t guarantee you of winning. What you need is the determination of a winner. The drive. The desire. The confidence. Believe in yourself first so that you can make everyone believe in you. Though it is a popular answer among beauty queens, that doesn’t make it any less crucial.
Looking back at joining the pageant, I realized that back then I made decisions on my own.My family initially discouraged my plans of joining but in the end I joined and eventually got their support. Why? Because of a simple reason: I wanted to be there. I felt that it would make me happy. I joined not because my friends pressured me to do so but because I wanted to.
TO THE CANDIDATES: Do your best but don’t be too hard on yourself. Be competitive but at the same time have fun. Don’t be intimidated with the bashers/haters/bitters (inggit lang sila!) and your fellow contestants, instead learn from them to do better.
Shameless plug-in. As for me, I’m rooting for Iana babes – my girl on this auspicious event.Don’t vamp a reason that because she’s my friend. She’s really nice. If you’re looking for a knock-dead gorgeous, it’s her – hands down. Whoever is reading this that has a Facebook account please visit the official page now, support Iana and drop some comments. No, there’s no prize for nasty comments so just zip it.
2. Then like
Iana’s picture.
Please please please. She’s pretty,
isn’t she? (
Iana’s glamshot)
Thank you.
