Noreen's
PERSONAL BLOG & JOURNAL

        

            Hold your head high, establish eye contact, and smile. As I walked down the red carpet, I heard cheers, people chanting my name and saw signs with my name written made out of colorful cartolinas. My friends were there to support me as I was trying to hide my nervousness and strike poses with my partner. Remember to walk confidently and stand out, I kept reminding myself. I can feel my heart beating fast as this is the first pageant I ever joined. After I descend the stage, I watched the other contestants take their turns and slowly found myself losing confidence and thinking about what I got myself into and where it all began.

           

           It all started when our Filipino Teacher announced that the Senior High Students would take part in the Filipino month activities. Various contests we’re introduced that excited many and awakened each section’s competitiveness to be the overall champion. Our class immediately had a meeting to decide among which of us would join certain competitions. I was chosen to join as the “Lakambini” for the “Harana” contest which I willingly agreed to since my only role was to act as the “binibini” whom the chosen male participants will court in the form of a serenade. Aside from that there were other activities like the poster making contest, “sayawit” and the main event the Filipino Comic Hero Cosplay. Our section already decided that we would go with the popular tv series “Mulawin”. Fortunately, it was approved even though the characters and the story itself did not come from a comic book. We already had our “Mulawin” but we couldn’t seem to decide who would be perfect for the role of “Alwina”. Lo and behold, my friends convinced me, and I was in the process of becoming a half mulawin and half human, Alwina.

           

             We all know that it takes a lot to win any competition. In my case, it took lots of overtime at school and a whole lot of feathers to complete my costume. I’m proud to say that we’re the only team who made our own costume without the help of handlers or professional costume makers. Making the perfect costume is only just the beginning. A part of the criteria asked us to make a short performance to introduce the comic heroes. The whole team and I were brainstorming and thinking of a performance that would make an impact and stand out among the rest. A lot of ideas were shared but none really made everybody unanimously agree to it. Luckily a good friend of mine came by our Saturday practice and choreographed the performance. He is a really creative guy who comes up with winning performances and after practice he proved himself worthy of that title. After the costumes and the performance were checked off the list it’s now up to me and my partner to make our characters come alive and take on the role of “Mulawin” and “Alwina”.

           

            “Noreen”, I came back to reality when a classmate of mine told me to prepare for the performance. I hurriedly put on my props and costume for the performance and even though I was losing confidence from watching the other performances I still decided to do my best so that my teams’ efforts would not go to waste. After I recited the lines that I memorized with proper emotion, a little bit of fighting scenes, and dancing on the side, the performance was done. All was left was to wait for the results.

           

            For the awarding ceremony, all candidates were asked to stay on stage together with their partners. There were only four teams and truth be told my partner and I were not expecting anything at all. Don’t get me wrong it’s not that I wasn’t confident about myself it’s just that every team really did their best and each of them I considered as worthy competitors. To our surprise we won two awards, first is for best in talent and the other as the 1st runner up for the Filipino Comic Hero Cosplay competition.

           

           At the start of the competition, my mind was set on bringing home the crown, on having bragging rights, and never joining a pageant ever again. But as the competition reached its end, I realized that winning – it’s not an overnight success; it’s something that requires you to work hard and develop yourself even more than what you already are today. As Vince Lombardi said, “Winning means you’re willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else.” I may not have won the title, but as cliché as it may sound, I brought home something better. I lost the competition, but now, there is nowhere else to go but up. From what I have learned and experienced, I am now ready to set foot on a new stage in my life – may it be in front of an audience or simply in the midst of all other people with their own little stages.