IF height was relevant, it would be listed among the vital statistics.
Miss Teen Barbados 2013 Shontonia Hall, at five feet, four inches, was one of the shortest contestants in the Miss Intercontinental pageant held in Germany recently, but where she falls short on stature, she more than makes up for it in personality.
“I believe true beauty comes from the inside and not only your physical appearance. Pageants should also be judged on this,” said the bubbly 18-year-old.
“Shon-Shon” faced off 58 girls from all over the world last Saturday night at the Maritim Hotel in Magdeburg, Germany, in national costume, swim wear and formal wear categories before the Top 15, then whittled to 5, were announced.
And even though the contestants were grouped according to their home country’s geographical location, Shontonia says that the girls formed their own circles.
“The Spanish- and French-speaking countries stuck together and some of the Asian girls did the same,” she said.
“After about three days I found myself in my own group of mixed-raced girls: India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Portugal, Malta, Luxembourg, Bonaire and South Africa.”
Shontonia said she tried to get acquainted with everyone, and by the first week she had already left her mark.
“We were never close friends,” said Miss Slovak Republic, Lucia Kacurova, “but I could see that she was a very beautiful person so I voted for her for the Miss Congeniality award.”
Miss Bonaire and now close friend, Kathry Clarisse Perez, had nothing but positive things to say about Miss Teen Barbados.
“Shontonia is an amazing and friendly person. She is always happy and loves to make people laugh. I learned that Barbadian people love to dance and party. She is the first person I met from Barbados.”
This was only Shontonia’s second pageant but the first on an international level and she declared she was not nervous.
“I am not a person who is easily intimidated. Each girl is unique and has different ways of competing,” said the teen queen.
“I didn’t bring back the gold for my lovely country, but I gained worthwhile experience; a chance to represent my homeland on the international stage; and in a country that some people only dream of visiting. Above all, I have new friendships that I will forever hold dearly”, says Shontonia.
The recent Barbados Community College graduate will be competing in the Miss Teen Universal pageant on January 26, 2013, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre and even plans to enter the Miss Barbados World contest “in the near future”.
