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Newly crowned Miss Trinidad and Tobago Ashana Arthur still feels she needs to be pinched to realise that she is not dreaming after she won the local leg of the Miss World pageant on Monday night.Arthur will represent this country at this year’s Miss World pageant in Johannesburg, South Africa, on December 12. She was among 12 beauties who vied for the crown at a gala show at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s. It was her first time entering a competition for a national title. In an interview yesterday, the 21-year-old aspiring events coordinator said she is extremely excited and the crown is something she has wanted for a long time. However, she never felt confident to enter, until recently, when she became more self assured and decided to give the competition a try. “I always liked beauty pageants but have always had self doubts. I always wondered if I had what it takes. But I overcame those self doubts in time and the barriers and limitations that I’ve placed on my self and decided to go for it,” Arthur said. “I don’t know if it has sunk in as yet,” she said. “Preparations were gruelling. It was difficult to prepare. People see the show and they see the girls and think it’s easy, but it’s not. There is a lot of hard work involved,” she said. “The training was very intense and all of the girls had to make huge sacrifices to be prepared for the show. I had a lot of support on the evening of the show. My friends and family came out in their numbers and they were all there cheering me on. It was a great feeling,” she said. For the local competition, each contestant was judged on their choice of evening gown, which organisers saw as a way of analysing each participant’s personality and sense of personal style.
For the competition, Arthur said she purchased a gown from local fashion designer and ex-Miss Universe/Miss World franchise holder, Peter Elias. When asked if the decision to choose Elias as her designer was predetermined, Arthur explained,“I didn’t plan on any particular designer; we were out shopping around for a gown and we happened to visit Peter’s shop and I fell in love with my gown.” Arthur said her attention is now focussed on Johannesburg.
She said she is intent on doing what needs to be done to prepare for the world stage. “There are certain areas in which I have a lot of work to do, and that includes answering questions. I have to really practise my interview skills. I get nervous for that segment and I don’t project my voice, so I have a lot of work to do in that area,” Arthur said. Arthur belongs to a newly formed entertainment group called Hybrid Entertainment where part proceeds go to charity.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree, majoring in Biology, but has a special interest in events management. She believes in traditional values and by entering this competition she hopes to inspire other young women to work hard and be focussed in order to accomplish their goals. She models and enjoys reading motivational books
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By VERDEL BISHOP
Source:http://www.newsday.co.tt/
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