ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) – Kait Coontz from Albuquerque will represent New Mexico at the Miss Filipina International Competition. She is the first state candidate to be selected to enter the competition and was selected from 500 other candidates from around the world.
The Eldorado High School senior said she had never done anything like this before but wanted to experience something new before graduating. “I saw this pageant on TikTok and just thought, ‘Oh my god, I love these costumes, I wonder what it is.’ To find out it was a Filipino oriented pageant. I thought to myself, ‘I want to take part,’ ”Coontz said.
The pageant is designed to promote tourism in the Philippines, in addition to the typical pageants like a swimsuit competition and an evening dress serving. In December Coontz visited her “hometown in the Philippines”, the homeland of her maternal family, Occidental Mindoro, and became her tourism ambassador.
Coontz said that since this is her first pageant, the only difficult preparation she had to do is walk in 6-inch heels. Almost everything else was easier for her, like meeting other girls in competition.
“I’ve met so many wonderful girls that I would call them my sisters in the contest,” Coontz said. “There aren’t a lot of Filipinos in New Mexico. So when I’m with a lot of girls who are similar in culture to me, it feels like I’m back home because we all speak the same language and we all eat the same eat food, we basically all think the same . It’s just very comforting to be with people like that, to be with really kind-hearted people. “
As part of their pageant advocacy platform, Coontz has focused on mental health awareness and suicide prevention. She said that Coontz wants to honor her legacy particularly after the rise in Asian hate crimes amid the coronavirus lockdown. “It is very important to show my pride in this way because there has been a lot of hatred for Asia. My advocacy is actually mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Not only in my high school but in several high schools across New Mexico have seen many suicidal students, ”said Coontz, holding back tears.
The story goes below:
“Usually there have been two suicides at my school every year, so I wanted to use my voice and use the pageant as a platform so I can just let people know that they are not alone and that there are resources,” Coontz said. “You could go to therapy, to counseling, you could talk to your friends, your family. Even when you don’t have the money or availability for therapy, you always have people around you, including your friends. Friends are definitely the biggest part. “
Coontz said she was dealing with anxiety and had had an episode of depression for about three years, which is why her advocacy is so important to her. She is now recovering but would like to continue this healing in a meaningful way. “I was just trying to get out of my comfort zone, just trying to make new friends, meet new people, so I know what’s in the world, so I can experience something as an adult, so I know how on myself watch out, ”said Coontz.
She said she looks forward to representing New Mexico and her hometown of Occidental Mindoro for the first time. The pageant will host a national costume parade where each candidate can honor their community by wearing clothing inspired by the culture, mythology or traditional clothing.
Coontz will wear a traditional bead-embroidered costume from the Mangyan, a native of Western Mindoro. Everything she will wear to the pageant was made in the Philippines. “I just want to represent my hometown as it is so underrepresented. My dress is a bunch of lucky charms with a sign that means unity and togetherness. I’m very excited to represent the Native people of Occidental Mindoro because they worked so hard to create my dress. I am so grateful to them that they did everything for me, ”said Coontz.
The contest gives people the opportunity to vote for the People’s Choice Award by liking their post on the Miss Filipina International Instagram page. The person whose post has the most likes is guaranteed a place in the top 10. Voters must first follow the MFI profile and then like the participant’s photo for it to count. Voting ends on July 25th.
Comments are closed.