Victoria has continued its tradition of strong representation at the Miss, Mrs. and Miss Teen B.C. Pageant, with Sarah Wong taking home the regional Miss Vancouver Island crown.
Wong already knows one thing she wants to do with her title: bring awareness to the negative effect mental illness has on society.
She is pursuing an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering, and aims to find better diagnostic procedures and, ultimately, cures for mental illness.
“Mental illness is just as common and can be nearly as crippling as physical illnesses and disabilities,” Wong says.
“Twenty per cent of all Canadians will experience a mental illness in their lifetime, and every Canadian will meet at least one person who suffers from it.”
This is a passion she shares with the new Miss Teen B.C., Brette Joyal from Langley. Other provincial titleholders this year include Taylor Scott from Richmond, who walked away with the Miss B.C. title; Stanislava Ludmilin from Surrey, who won Mrs. B.C.; and Tanpreet Parmar from Delta, who was awarded Miss B.C. Charity for having raised the most out of the $25,000 the contestants raised for the pageant’s charity, Cops for Cancer.
The pageant will be broadcast on Shaw Television later this month.
The Miss B.C., Miss Teen B.C. and Mrs. B.C. Pageant is unique in the pageant world in that there are no height or weight requirements or restrictions against women who have had children.
This year’s roster of contestants included a woman who was previously a competitor in the Special Olympics as well as a contestant with autism.
The Miss, Mrs. and Miss Teen B.C. Pageant is conducting interviews for the 2015 pageant. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply online at missbc.ca.