Countdown to the Crown.

Hi lovelies!

I’m here to give you an international and more specifically a modern African perspective on fashion and culture. I couldn’t be more excited to have this awesome job and responsibility. Perhaps I should start by telling you a little about me. I am a lover. I am empowered. I am a sociologist with a pen and a voice. I am a global citizen but my origins are in Liberia, West Africa. I will be representing Liberia in the Miss Africa USA 2010 pageant. Therefore for the next five weeks I’ll be giving you a weekly dose of the life of a foreign pageant queen and fashion and culture lover. This is the Countdown to the Crown. Pageantry. Modern African culture. International perspective. Find it here.

Week 5: …and then there were 32.

So, this has been quite the journey. I started auditioning for the title of Miss Africa USA in August of 2009 and almost a year later it has proven to be a true test of my tenacity. Over 250 young women applied for this title and of that number 32 of us remain. I completely understand why so few are still here; this is hard! The balance of work, school for some, career goals, family and some kind of social life in between is sometimes overwhelming. So add a pageant with six costume changes, talent and micro project requirements and much more to that list and you can see why only the strong have survived. In fact, I just discovered today that one of the young ladies have bowed out gracefully only weeks away from the pageant.

As for me, I welcome this challenge, not always with a smile but I welcome it nonetheless. Crown or not this pageant has given me an opportunity to really find who I am and what matters most to me. It has brought me closer to my culture and to other African cultures and people. It has given me focus, better time management skills and more confidence in who I am and want to be. So, as I embark on one week closer to it all I share with you my anticipation of greatness, fear of disappointment and the fabulosity in between. My costumes are top secret but check out some of my inspirations below. One week closer to the Crown…

Nykita Garnett