International students crowned at pageant
This year’s Miss and Mr. International Pageant was a proud one for Dominican students at USU, as their country’s representatives won both the women’s and the men’s competitions.
Carina Guaba won the title among seven other contenders for the Miss International crown. Of the three students competing for the Mr. International title, Alfredo Balacacer took home the prize.
This year’s pageant, held Friday night in the Eccles Conference Center, featured 11 students competing for the honor of representing the university’s international student community. Each contestant prepared a video, a stage performance and a costume, to explain the culture of his or her home country.
In his opening remarks, International Student Council President Christian Orr said the pageant commemorated nearly a century of international students attending USU. Students from Persia — now Iran — came to USU 99 years ago as a result of connections made when the university’s president started an agricultural program in the Middle East.
“Tonight, we hope that you can celebrate that moment with us, and next year we will have our 100-year celebration,” Orr said.
Students from the Dominican Republic stood and cheered when their representative’s name was read as Miss International, and Guaba said her reaction was one of surprise.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” she said. “I was so excited, all I could do was yell.”
With the aid of other student performers from the Dominican Republic, Guaba performed a dance number representing her country’s history of interaction between the island’s native culture and Spanish and African cultures.
When asked by judges what community service she had performed in her home country, Guaba said she volunteered teaching English to those who didn’t have the money to learn from professional instructors.
The 11 students competing for the two honors were judged not only on fashion and poise, but on how well they represented their culture, said International Student Council Cultural Vice President Angie Batista.
“It’s not just beauty or who can sing or dance,” Batista said. “It’s who can show the best of their country.”
Candidates were selected by their respective student organizations and prepared a written essay, a video submission and a live performance to compete in the pageant.
Melina Santos, a public relations officer in the Dominican Student Association, said she persuaded Guaba to enter the pageant, because she embodies the culture of the Dominican Republic so well. In addition to a diverse ethnic background, Dominicans usually have a friendly and outgoing nature, Santos said.
“She works at the computer lab in the engineering building, and people tell her all the time, ‘You really love your job,'” Santos said.
“We’re very energetic, we’re always smiling, very spontaneous — super friendly,” Guaba said.
Last year’s winner, Aminata Meite, crowned Guaba with a tiara donated from S. E. Needham Jewelers.
Balacacer, representing the Dominican Republic in the men’s competition, won the title of Mr. International USU. Fellow Dominicans in the audience stood as he played the country’s national anthem on electric guitar.
The judges asked Balacacer what he thought was the best part of the international student community at USU.
“The best thing is the opportunity that I have here to be involved with people from a different culture and to understand people who are totally different from me,” Balacacer said.
Pictures of both winners will be placed alongside the pictures of past winners in a display on the third floor of the Taggart Student Center.
The pageant was the culmination of International Education and Diversity Week. The yearly pageant is a good opportunity for international students to get together and for domestic students to learn about different cultures, Batista said.
– steve.kent@aggiemail.usu.edu
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT COUNCIL HOSTS the Mr. and Miss International Pageant every year. Contestants are judged on talent and the way they represent their home country. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo