By Kiersten Magee
“At first I was just scrolling through Tik Tok, and I saw an ad for it, and I thought, ‘This is really interesting, maybe I should participate,’” Eldorado junior Kait Coontz said.
“This,” was the Miss Filipina International Pageant, an event meant to bring awareness to the culture of the Philippine nation.
This Pageant will be the first that Coontz has ever participated in, and if she gets the chance, she will be the first Filipina woman from New Mexico to participate in this event.
“To be the first representative from New Mexico would be just a great way just to put my name out there, and more Filipino knowledge into New Mexico.” Coontz said.
In its seventh year of running, the pageant had to be canceled due to COVID-19, but Coontz is hopeful that she will be able to participate in 2021.
“My favorite part about Pageants is to build women’s confidence.” Coontz stated.
There are lots of misconceptions about pageants, and Coontz hopes to overcome those and learn more about herself and gain peers along the way.
“I’ll make a lot of new friends, and get to experience that confidence,” Coontz said.