Bright lights. Rolling cameras. Cultural fashion. Sarina Vij (10) won first place out of ten other competitors the Miss India Star Scholarship Pageant organized by India Waves TV Network & Swagat Foundation.

“I learned about [the pageant] from the Indian Newspaper,” she said. “I thought it would be a great opportunity and I decided to participate in the pageant in order to improve my public speaking skills and showcase my talent.”

This experience being her first pageant, Sarina did not expect to win the competition. “My attitude was to have fun, meet new friends, and be confident on stage,” she said. “I was also one of the youngest competitors. Knowing that I was competing against some twenty-four year olds was quite intimidating.”
There were four segments of the event: a Western and Eastern clothing modeling segment, a talent competition, and a Q&A interview portion.

For the Western and Eastern pieces, she chose to model a white gown and a traditional pink Indian sari, respectively.

In the third segment, the talent competition, she sang one of her favorite songs, “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. “All I really needed to do for that was picture Leonardo DiCaprio in my head and the song flowed very nicely,” she said.

The final section of the competition, which comprised of an interview, did not seem difficult to her. “I did not really prepare for the Q&A portion as Harker Speech and Debate really helped me become a more confident and eloquent speaker,” Sarina said.

Overall, Sarina felt that she did not have to transform herself to win the title. “Over the years, Harker has groomed me to be the best that I can be. Being involved in singing groups such as Choir, Vivace, and Harmonics in Middle School allowed me to explore my singing ability, and take it to the next level. Harker Speech and Debate gave me confidence to speak spontaneously on stage. Being involved in the Harker Fashion Show enabled me to carry myself on stage with grace and elegance,” she said. “All in all, I owe it to Harker for allowing me to explore my talents and giving me the platform to pursue them.”

As a result of winning the competition, Sarina won $5,000 in scholarship money as well as an internship at the India Waves TV Network office. “This amazing opportunity will enable me to address current youth issues, youth achievements, and will allow me to promote culture and education in our community,” she said.
As of now, Sarina is not interested in participating in any more pageants for a while, but instead wants to focus on her academics, debate, and swimming.

Overall, she appreciates what the pageant allowed her to learn about herself and society.
Sarina said, “This experience allowed me to realize my potential, enabled me to improve my weaknesses, and gave me an insight to the strength within me that I never knew existed,” she said. “I’m so glad that I entered this competition because I was so caught up in studying all the time. It made me realize that we have to nurture ourselves to become educated, presentable, confident, talented as well as being poised and graceful at the same time.”