–in quest for Ms St Joseph High Senior and Junior

IT WAS one night but two queens, as aspiring pilot Devya Singh and 14-year-old aspiring veterinarian Shameeza Baksh were crowned Miss St Joseph Senior and Junior, respectively, when the curtains came down on the event two Sunday nights ago at the National Cultural Centre.

In the senior category, Form IV Arts’ Ruth Wilson placed first runner-up, Form V Arts’ Elizabeth Baptiste second runner-up, and Tibina Deen third runner-up.

For the juniors, placing after Baksh were Kizza McLeod, Leah Alves and Chrislene Persaud respectively.

Before an audience of arguably the largest attendance in pageantry here of late, Singh and Baksh each prevailed over seven other young ladies in their respective categories, progressing through their talent, evening/cocktail wear and final questions segments before making their way to their crowns.

The adorable Baksh was all smiles when her win was announced, but it was a look of utter surprise that crossed Singh’s face when it finally dawned on her that she had triumphed over first runner-up Ruth Wilson.

“Everyone was a queen in their own way, so I was surprised,” Singh said moments after taking the title. She however said she was particularly worried about how things might have gone during her final question.

“Even though I answered my final question,” she said, “I was still somewhat skeptical about my answer not being good enough.
“But look where I am! I was extremely, extremely proud, because I know my mother won a pageant in her teens, and I wanted to make her so proud!
“Also, winning this pageant helps me to promote my platform in many ways; it helps me to be a good influence for everyone in my school as well.”

But winning the crown was not the only feat that Singh would accomplish that night, as she also copped the prize for “Best Talent”, and was voted “Miss Congeniality” by her pageant sisters. However, it was Wilson who would take the senior “Ms Intellect Prize”, while the junior one went to Leah Alves.

INTO THE NIGHT
The night started with the 16 young ladies going through their introductions, before moving into the casual wear, and their platform questions. Quite early on, Baptiste and Wilson were singled out as crowd favourites. The girls were scored from a total of 30 points for their introduction, and 25 apiece for the casual and platform questions.

The talent segment was worth a maximum 20 points. Obviously a talented singer, Devya won best talent off her satisfactory performance of Emeli Sande’s “Read All About It”. For her talent piece, Shameeza did a dramtic performance that spoke to suicide prevention.

The final segment before the top-four were selected was the cocktail wear for the juniors, and evening wear for the seniors, both of which went for 25 points.

The top-four then had to endure the worrisome final question. But even that was, for the most part, easy work for these smart young ladies. The top four juniors were each asked the same question, while a different question was put to the seniors.

For the juniors the question was, “Explain how you felt on your first day at St Joseph High School,” and came from the evening’s host, Wasim Khan. To this Baksh by far gave one of the most assertive answers of the evening.

“Well, let me start from the beginning!” Baksh immediately declared to hoots of encouraging laughter from the crowd. Then, without skipping a beat, the well-poised Form Three ‘D’ student continued:

“I was chosen to go to Christ Church Secondary, so I was really sad; but then I wrote the transfer exam and realised that I overcame defeat. And when I heard that I had to come to St Joseph, I was happy.
“My first day there, I was filled with so much confidence in myself, thanks to the teachers, because they told me that even though I came in at Second Form, I am now part of the St Joseph family. And that made me feel as if I will always be at home at my school.”

For the seniors, the question was: “St Joseph High has a proud 120-year legacy. What one thing makes you most proud to be a student at the school, and why?”

In her short but sweet winning answer, Singh said: “It would be the relationship the teachers and students have. It’s phenomenal, I must say. Teachers and students have a connection at St Joseph like no other.
“You can tell the teacher anything, and they would have the best advice to give you in return, so I strongly believe it would be the relationship that the students and teachers have at St Joseph High.”