Miss New Brunswick 2017

Miss New Brunswick 2017


Hello My Sunshines,


       Beaches, clear waters, and outdoor adventures. That is how most people spend their summers, doing something relaxing, and allowing themselves to soak up the sun. But as usual, I decided to try something different this summer.


    Last week I was given the amazing opportunity to take part in the Miss New Brunswick 2017 pageant, and I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life.


   Before I start, allow me to break the stereotypes surrounding pageants. Pageants are portrayed as nothing more than a dog show for women. A place where snobby, sickly thin, women come to compete against each other, just to see who is the most physically beautiful. But that's not the case at all!


Pageants are events filled with genuine, real, and amazing women of all shapes and sizes. They go there for the experience and are well awarded, whether they win or not. They are judged, yes, but they judged on their personality, their involvement in their community, their elegance and poise. A pageant winner is someone who you know is beautiful on the inside and out, and is someone who is kind, and generous.


And never before have I seen a group of such beautiful, and down to earth women, then I did when I went to Miss New Brunswick 2017.


It all started with simple introductions, and name game before we got organized into our rooms. Just sitting at the table with these girls, I knew that the next three days were going to be spectacular. We talked about our hobbies, and what we schools we went to. Each and every girl seemed to glow when they talked about their passion, it was like someone had flicked a light switch. But that meant that they were all proud of who they were, and what they do, and were not ashamed to tell others.


They say it only takes 30 seconds to give a first impression, and I was blown away by these girls.

The Miss New Brunswick 2017 Contestants



Pageant girls need to eat too. :p

Awww, look! It's a heart!

The next three days flew by quickly as they were filled with rehearsals, photo shoots, and a talent show. Before I knew it, we were all lining up to go on stage for our opening number.


The memories I made on the stage that night will last a life time. We danced, posed, spoke, and glided across that stage as we went through opening, casual wear, and then finally formal wear.


Shortly after formal wear they announced the five semi-finalists, I was not one of them, but I didn't feel sad in the slightest. Instead I could feel myself smile wider, and tears begin to line my eyes out of joy and pride for the girls that I had become friends with. Shortly after this moment we went back stage to listen to the former Miss New Brunswick's (Marielle Ouellette) goodbye speech. I had gotten to know her pretty well, and began to down right sob, and I can promise you that I did not stop crying until I left the building that night.


Once I fixed my makeup, and went back on stage with the other girls for crowning, I could feel my heart pound in excitement. I knew the judges must of had the hardest job in the world with this pageant, because I could personally see each and every one of those girls becoming the next Miss New Brunswick.


I remember biting my lip, trying to pull myself together as they called out the titles.


"Miss Talent... Miss Minto! Brooklyn Arsenault!!"
"Miss Congeniality... Miss Nackawic! Ashleigh Corey!!"
"2nd Princess... Mlle Mollusque! Emilie Pichon!!"
"1st Princess... Miss Salmon Festival! Hailey Savoie!!"
"And your Miss New Brunswick 2017 is... Miss Minto! Brooklyn Arsenault!!!!"


After her name was called, and we were sure that we were allowed, all of the contestants rushed in towards Brooklyn, and gave each other all one big hug. We cried congratulations to not just her, but everyone, and talked about how well everyone did.


I may not have officially won anything that night, but I gained a dozen new friends, that I know will support me in the future, and the experience of a life time.


Before I end this post, I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped me get to the Miss New Brunswick Pageant. If you told me a year ago that I'd be doing stuff like this, I'd think you were insane, but because of the over whelming support of my friends and family, I've flourished into the person that I am today. I'd like to thank Dawne McLean and the ACE Pageant for setting this up for me, and giving me the opportunity to represent our small community, it was an honour. Also a huge thank you to my family, my friends and my coach, Michel Belliveau, for supporting, and helping me prepare for all of this. I never could've done this without you. And how would the pageant come to pass if it weren't for the awesome comity members?! Thank you to everyone who helped make the pageant happen, you all did such a fantastic job, and made the three days truly memorable for us. And finally to my girls, you are all so so amazing, and I am so grateful that I got the chance to meet you all. You truly made those three days the best, and I know that all of you are going to go amazing places in life. Remember that all of you are Queens, no matter what anyone tells you, you girls are simply gorgeous, and no one can take that from you.


So what's the lesson from this? What exactly did I win from those three days? I leave knowing that sometimes the best things in life isn't the things you win, or things that you can hold, but the people that you spend it with and the memories that you take with you when you go.


Signing off,
The Nerdy Blogger,
(Brooklyn Wilkins)


P.S. QUOTE OF THE POST:  Heavy is the crown, and yet she wears it as if it were a feather. There is strength in her heart, determination in her eyes and the will to survive resides within her soul. She is you. A warrior. A champion. A fighter. A Queen.    ~ R.H. SIN

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To be a Queen

To be a Queen


Hello My Beauties,


   This past September I decided to do something ambitious and fun, and actually social for once. I entered a beauty pageant, and that's not even the crazy part...I won.


Here's the full story: Every year the local fair, the Albert County Exhibition, has a country beauty pageant for girls ages 13-18 as the grand opening of the exhibition, This has been a tradition for years, and every year 9-12 girls enter, and compete to see who has the brightest personality, and who is the most beautiful inside and out.


Of course I've always known about the pageant and had gone to the fair grounds to watch it annually, and just like every other little girl I had dreamed about being in it and winning. But as I got older, I became more and more aware of my body, and to be honest, I didn't always like what I saw. So when I finally became old enough to join, I just sat on the bleachers and watched from a distance, instead of joining the rest of my friends on the stage.


One thing you should know, is that I'm pretty close with the director of the pageant, and when she heard that I was not entering that year, she came to find me as soon as she could. She told me that she thought I would of been perfect for the pageant, and that she would of loved to see me up there. I simply explained that I just wasn't feeling it that year.


A year passes, and people are beginning to sign up for the pageant again. I had thought about it that entire year and asked plenty of people for the opinion on it, and they all had the same answer.
"Do it! It'll be an amazing experience!" So, with a bit of hesitation, I joined.


The moment I pressed send on the email, my brain began to over think everything. I knew that it was my first year entering, and I was most likely going to be the thickest/curviest girl there, and I'm not exactly popular, so I thought there was no chance in hell that I could even get runner up.


 The weeks slugged by in an agonizingly slow pace, but sooner than I had hoped, the day of the pageant arrived.


My older sister had come over to help me prepare, and to take some pre-pageant pictures. And before I knew it she had dropped me off at the assigned building for the interviews.

I remember walking into the building, feeling like my heart was going to fly straight out of my chest, and that I had a huge lump sitting inside my throat. But despite my quickly rising anxieties, I kept walking until I reached the sitting room.


I noticed 5 things straight away about the other contestants.

1. They were all blond or light haired.
2. They all go to my school and are in the same friend group, a.k.a, the popular girls.
3. They were all smaller than me.
4. I was the only one with a dress that had multiple colours.
5. They were all looking directly at me.

Each set of eyes felt like a set of scanners that was taking in every single possible flaw on me, each whisper felt like someone was ripping bits and pieces of me apart, and the overall experience felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water over top of me.

With a shaky breath I began to approach the table, painting a smile onto my face and giving them a cheerful 'Hello'.

The rest of the wait time was more than awkward for me. The group of friends were gossiping among each other about any recent drama that had happened in school, I on the other had a very quiet conversation with the shy person on my right.


It wasn't until the interviews had begun, and some one had come to give a presentation on another pageant that would be happening that I had finally become comfortable.


Since my last name began with 'W' I was one of the last people to be called by the judges. In the meantime I sat through two presentations, ate a bit of food, and practiced the dance that we would be expected to preform later that night.


In the end all the presentations in the world couldn't of held it off, and the dreaded moment had finally came.


"Brooklyn Wilkins? We're ready for you now."


After a few deep breaths I got up, and followed the man to the judges room, the advice from my friends and family running through my head.


'Just be yourself, you'll do great.'
'Don't be scared, be confident in everything you say.'
'Don't lie about who you are or what you do. Let them see the person we all love.'


With the words of encouragement imbedding themselves in my brain, I was ready.


The judges had asked me a series of questions. Some were about me, and my hobbies and interests, others were about what I do in my community, or asked about my involvement in the fair and what I would change about it. I listened to parents and answered every question with my heart, keeping a very real smile on my face the entire time. I discovered that being myself was working, when halfway through the interview one of the judges stated,
 'You seem very passionate about everything you say, leading into the next question-'
from that point on I couldn't help but feel as though I actually had a shot at this thing.


Once the interview was finally over, the hard part was done, and all that was left was the dance and  the crowning ceremony.


Now one thing I haven't told you, is that all the contestants of the pageant choreographed the dance ourselves, the original choreographer had gotten sick the night before, leaving all the planning in our hands. Somehow knowing this left me feeling more confident in my performance, that night, and when the country song 'Head Over Boots' by Jon Pardi began to play, I knew that dance like the back of my hand, and let my soul take control as everyone began to dance.


Unfortunately, after the fun dancing part, came the heart stopping, adrenaline pumping part. The crowning.


I remember there sitting in my chair, the sentence 'And the 2016 Albert County Exhibition Queen is... Brooklyn Wilkins!' whispering tauntingly in the back of my head, but I quickly corrected myself, reminding myself that it was my first year, and there were some girls here that had been in it multiple times, that the crown usually went to a grad student, and that I was only in grade 10.


They announced the Miss Congeniality, a girl who had talked to basically everyone, and helped out a lot in the dance, I myself had voted for her.


2nd Princess, a girl who was in my grade, and actually a some what close friend of mine.


1st Princess was surprisingly the same girl who one Miss Congeniality!


And then it was time for the Queen. At this point I had told myself 'Well, there's always next year' , and my older sister told me that she had actually began to put away her camera.


The judge began to give the usual speech. 'Before I announce this years Queen, I just like to say that we would give it to all of you if we could, you are all such amazing young ladies, but sadly we cannot. So this years Albert County Exhibition Queen is... Brooklyn Wilkins.'


I could of sworn I got whiplash from how fast my head shot up. In a daze of shock, I stood up, walking towards last years Queen, who traditionally crowns the new queen, and allowed her to place a sash reading 'ACE QUEEN 2016' in bold, gold letters, a velvety, purple cape, and of course a beautiful tiara on me. I could hear the area where my family was sitting screaming in applause. I remember being herded towards the other winners for pictures, lots of pictures, and repeating the judges words in my head.

I don't think it even really sunk in until I saw my family waiting for me by stage. We laughed and cried and took even more pictures, and I was honestly the happiest I had been in a long time.


The rest of the weekend was spent with me giving up many hours for my 'Queenly Duties' This included participating in a parade, handing out ribbons for the many contests and events, accepting many 'congratulations', and visiting the local nursing home. In total I spent a tiring 37 hours there that weekend, and was pooped out by the time it was all over.

     Now this wouldn't be a 'Nerdy Blogger' post if I didn't include some kind of life lesson, or deep take on this entire thing.


What I really learned from that weekend is don't underestimate yourself, that you are capable than so much more than you think, and that it doesn't matter your size, race, hair colour, eye colour, gender, anything, all that matters is it's what you hold on the inside that counts.


 And I know that all sounds so very cliché but it's the truth! I don't care if you are small or big, short or tall, black or white. If you are kind, and nice to those around you, even if they aren't so nice to you, you are truly gorgeous and it's up to you to show off that beauty to the world.


And if you find your way to shine, but you think that you can't do it, or that you'd only fail in the end, don't listen to yourself. Take it from me, accepting that one opportunity can open a world of other doors, because of that weekend I was invited to enter the Miss Teen Atlantic Canada pageant in Dieppe and was encouraged to enter by an army of people.


So when life gives you an opportunity, please give yourself the biggest gift you can and accept it.


Always Smiling,
The Nerdy Blogger
(Brooklyn Wilkins)


P.S. QUOTE OF THE POST!! "They asked her 'How did you free yourself?' She answered 'By embracing my own power.' ~ Yung Pueblo