The new Miss Guyana Universe is no wallflower. She is perhaps the most self-confident holder of the title in recent times, a quality that she will certainly need in the Bahamas next month.
Straightened hair and bangs framed her face lending it a sort of oriental look as the newly-crowned Miss Guyana Universe, Jenel Cox, moved about the Exclusive Studios on Wednesday afternoon saying that she intends to put her best foot forward and make Guyana proud.
“Talk, I’m listening,” she said smiling as she continued to gather clothes and other items; moving rhythmically about the small photo studio.
Her face was still carefully made up; she had just changed into a simple dress and was getting ready to go home. Asked how her day was, she look taken aback for a few seconds before smoothly responding that it was hectic and exciting.
“I just finished my first photo shoot as Miss Guyana Universe,” the confident and bubbly Jenel chatted to The Scene. “My day has been hectic and exciting… very long as well but I’m enjoying it all.”
Winning the pageant was very important to her, Jenel said, because “it makes no sense entering a competition if you don’t want to win”. Jenel, a former Miss Guyana Talented Teen and second runner-up in Guyana’s Next Top Model, said she was excited last Saturday when she was crowned.
“I did it because I wanted to do it. I did it for me,” she stated. “Preparation is the most important thing behind success and definitely, if you want something bad enough it’s not so hard to achieve that goal.”
Jenel, a former St Stanislaus College student, will represent Guyana at the Miss Universe Pageant in the Bahamas on August 23. The young woman is “positively hopeful” that she will do Guyana proud.
“I never imagined myself here. I didn’t think I’d make it…but I guess I outshone the other girls,” she said. “I intend to put my best foot forward and make Guyana proud.”
Toning & criticism
“I have to work on toning and weight training,” Jenel immediately responded when asked what deficiencies she and her trainers will be tackling until August.
Jenel told The Scene that she has the face, the personality, the intelligence and she just needs to do a little work on her body. “Sassy and sexy” is how she described her on-stage personality and stressed that personality is what pageantry is all about.
“Pageantry is all about personality, how well you can fit in and manoeuvre,” she said.
Criticism, the young woman said, is a natural motivator for her and she believes that she reacts “fairly well” to it. Asked whether she thought her diction and posture needed some work, the beauty queen said those areas were her “strong points”. She believes that she is ready for the international stage and is hoping that her confidence will take her a long way.
When told that words like “brawling” and “ghetto fabulous” have been used to describe her, Jenel said that she knows when she needs to act professional. She explained that she isn’t the sort of person who behaves snobbish. Different situations, she said, requires varying levels of formality.
“The more people criticize me, the more I want to work hard and prove them wrong,” Jenel said firmly.
Without blinking an eye she admitted that “a little loud” and “enthusiastic” is who she is. The very qualities that bring criticism knocking at her door, she stated, are the important characteristics that add to the personality that captured the judges last Saturday.
“If I’m a little loud and down to earth,” she said, “that’s who Jenel Cox is. I love who I am and I’m not afraid to show it.”
Sassy, sexy and confident are definitely adjectives that can be allotted to Jenel. She’s beautiful, has a quick, intelligent mind that will one day attack criminal law, but she has something else. Jenel, like a breath of fresh air, brings her honesty and transparency to the stage. (srh.midnight@gmail.com)
