Page 33 - Demo

www.MOSTmag.com || FITNESS MAG A ZINE || 33MFM: You participated in the Miss Jamaica Universe and World pageants and placed 2nd and 4th respectively-What did you love about the pageant world and what would you change? SO: I absolutely loved that throughout the pageant process, you are basically practicing putting your best %u2018you%u2019 forward in front of a wide (and sometimes greatly critical) audience. Of course the key to that, in my opinion, is to still be your authentic self and not some mannequin void of personality while you are up on the stage. I entered not because it was ever a dream of mine to be in a pageant but because I was excited at the thought of being able to represent Jamaica, the home of my blood and spirit, on an international platform. As to what I would change, I would like to see more welcoming and celebration of different types of beauty and not just what has been accepted by European standards. There is so much beauty out there in the world if we just open our eyes and minds.MFM: You were a dancer growing up-does dance still play a major role in your life? What kind did you/do you specialize in? SO: Once you are a dancer, you are always a dancer! There is something spiritual that happens when you dance; I believe that with every fiber of my being. I could not imagine my life without the gift of being able to express so much through movement. At age four, I started off with the basics as most dancers do--ballet and tap. Then I progressed to jazz, modern, hip hop, and then African and Afro-Haitian. When I danced professionally, it was primarily in hip hop and jazz performance. A little over a year ago, I started taking Tahitian dance which I absolutely LOVE--I swear I may have been Polynesian in another life--true story! MFM: I heard that you traveled a lot as a kid-why was this? What is your favorite place to date that you would want to return to again and again? SO: All thanks to my mom who worked for American Airlines for almost 40 years! Because of her and that job, I took airplanes like they were taxis, as my family used to joke with me and say! It was such an incredible blessing to have had access like that; to be honest I remember thinking that was what everyone did. I thought summer vacation meant you used your passport. When I was really young, one day at the beginning of the school year, a classmate said he stayed in town for the whole summer, and I remember feeling so sad because he did not use his passport. I honestly did not know any better! I also remember one time when I was, again, very young and in school and our teacher asked each of us what we did for the weekend, and I said that we had gone to San Francisco (or Florida, I cannot quite remember). The quizzical and shocked look on her face, followed by a %u201cYou went where%u201d made me think I was going to be in trouble because people were not supposed to leave the state for the weekends!