Congratulations to Megan Young for besting 126 other equally beautiful women to become Miss World 2013. It is a double achievement for her because she also became the first Filipina to ever win the elusive title for her country.
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| Photo courtesy of Miss World Organization |
Megan Young's Miss World 2013 stint is particularly striking because as a model, actress, and entertainment host, her life has been accessible to the public for years. So we know that her rise to where she is now is not a walk in the park.
Megan Young's triumph confirmed my long-held belief that a Filipina can stand out in world-class competitions. It also affirms another belief I have, that it doesn't take a super-perfect woman to win in a competition.
Below are my take-aways on Megan Young's journey and triumph at the Miss World 2013 tilt:
1. Every woman is beautiful in her own way.
No matter what people think, or the mirror shows, or the weighing scale says, each of us has something special and beautiful in ourselves. No matter the color of our skin, age, or status in life. Megan Young may be beautiful. But she has her "off" days too, I presume. In show business where fair-skinned mestizas are often cast in lead roles, Megan Young's morena features affect the kind of roles she gets. In a world where beauty is defined in a particular way, big roles often passed her by and she was often cast as a villain, in supporting roles, or something similar. She has seldom been in lead roles and she is not what you may call an A-list star in the Philippine show business firmament.
In fact, Megan Young is not the tallest of the candidates during the Miss World 2013 beauty pageant, nor the most beautiful, nor the sexiest. But she held on to what she has, and won.
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| Photo courtesy of Miss World Organization |
2. We must not lose ourselves in the pursuit of anything.
Right after Megan Young won the Miss World Philippines 2013 crown, she called herself an "unconventional beauty queen" in an interview and revealed that part of her preparations for the international tilt was that she was "actually focused on what I'm gonna do as myself, or can I make that mark in history that is different from other beauty queens?"
She also said when she finally won the Miss World 2013 pageant that: "I always tell everyone that I’ll just be myself in everything that I do."
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| Photo courtesy of Megan Young |
Sometimes, we tend to put on a "good front", or what we think other people might like to see from us. That keeps us from being true to ourselves and also prevents others from seeing our real beauty and what is special inside us.
3. There is "beauty in giving"
"Beauty in giving" is part of Megan Young's winning answer during the interview portion of the Miss World Philippines 2013 contest. Even before she competed, she is one of the National Peace Ambassadors for the government's "I Am For Peace" campaign. She participates in relief operations to extend help to her countrymen.
As we go through life and throw ourselves into the effort of reaching our personal dreams, part of our goals should always be for the good of others and not just ourselves.
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| Megan Young in a relief operation to flood-stricken areas in the Philippines. |
4. It takes extraordinary effort, not necessarily extraordinary talent.
Megan Young is not known for her singing voice in Philippine show business. But she was brave enough to learn a couple of songs to sing at the Miss World Philippines 2013 and Miss World 2013 competitions. Her talent lies in speaking and hosting, but since singing will increase her chance of winning, she took to it with dedication and determination. She trained for it, made the most of what her voice is capable of, and just went ahead despite this apparent weakness. Practice, hard work, and determination can make a difference.
5. It's not the mistakes, but how we rise from them that makes us beautiful.
Megan Young has often been considered by many Filipinos as a sure bet to win in any beauty pageant, because of her height, beauty, intelligence and regal bearing. It came as a surprise then that during this year's Binibining Pilipinas tilt, Megan did not even appear during the screening process, despite her intention to join. It was later found out that she was disallowed to join the competition because she has posed topless on the cover of a magazine last 2012. That photo shoot may have cost her the Binibining Pilipinas crown and a chance to become Miss Universe.
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| Megan Young for Rouge, March 2012 |
But when she was given another chance to shine at the Miss World 2013 contest, she took that chance, gave it her best, and took home the crown.
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| Photo Courtesy of Miss World Organization |
Often, it's how graceful we are when we fall and stand up that matters.
Again, congratulations to you, Miss Megan Young, Miss World 2013!
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