Transcriber: Pragnya V Reviewer: Yanyan Hong
I have a question. How many of you feel confident?
Please raise your hand if you do.
Okay. Three, five, ten, maybe. Okay, not everyone,
everyone should be raising your hand.
Because everyone has something to be confident about.
So, what is confidence?
Confidence is having faith, it’s believing in yourself,
understanding yourself, and accepting yourself.
Confidence can change your life.
So today I’ll talk about how confidence changed my life.
Back in 2019, I was just a girl who works in a hotel.
I wasn’t sure with my life. I didn’t have any dreams or any purpose,
just living my life every day.
Oh, by the way, I don’t know if you’ve noticed,
but I am mixed Japanese and Spaniard, and I happen to be a minority.
Especially back in then, I didn’t have any dreams.
But that is when I saw this TV show about beauty pageants, the Miss Universe.
It was so shiny, beautiful, fancy
just like the movies. And I never had any experience of standing in front of
people or performing in front of everyone.
But then I was like, Why don’t I just try?
It’s not like I was going to lose something from that.
So I applied, thinking I’m never going to get any response.
But few weeks later I had a response.
That they’d like to see me for an interview.
I was so happy
and on the interview day, I was very excited.
But then when I saw the other girls,
I became so nervous because there are so many beautiful girls with
so much talent. I feel like I have nothing.
And I wait for another few weeks or months,
I got a response from them that I was chosen as a candidate.
The semi-finalist.
Incredible, right?
So, even though I I was really nervous and then I feel like I had nothing.
During our training, I realized that my background made me stood out.
The fact that I was raised in three countries Ghana, Japan and America,
that made me unique.
The fact that I was the only Asian black woman
that made me stood out. So I started to get high hopes.
And on the tournament day, the tournament day of Miss Universe Japan.
I was doing well, I was chosen in the top fifteen,
then top ten, then even the top 5
And then finally,
it was the moment for the judges to call out the
name for Miss Universe Japan.
And at that point, I already knew that they would call me.
And finally, the judges open up the envelope.
I was so excited because I knew I was going to win.
And the moment of truth
The drum roll goes in my head. (Imitates drum)
You know?
They did not call me, I didn’t win. I was so shocked.
I already practiced my reaction.
And, as a matter of fact, the girl
who won that year, her name starts with an “R”
just like my name also starts with an “R”.
So when I heard that name, I didn’t want to get up.
I was so shocked and I was so sad, disappointed for months and months.
My friend got so worried about me that she took me to
the beach. It was a very beautiful day.
The sun was shining, soft sea breeze touched on my face,
and I see the beautiful blue ocean,
My friend thought that would make me so happy.
But when I saw the beautiful view, I started crying.
My tears couldn’t stop. I was that sad.
But then, on my way home, I thought to myself, wait a minute.
Why do I have to be sad?
Yes, I couldn’t become Miss Universe Japan.
Yes, I ended in the top 5. But it was my inner beauty
that I had before Miss Universe Japan that brought me to the top 5.
I should be proud of my unique upbringing and perspective that I have,
and that makes me who I am. I should be proud of those
things that I have taken for granted.
And I realize that so many people, including me,
take so many things in our life for granted.
But we should be proud of ourselves.
We should be confident of ourselves.
And I know, I know that you may think like the way I used to
think that I used to think that,
you don’t have something to be confident about,
and that is not true. Look at yourself and think of who you are.
Think of what you can do. We have something special in ourselves.
And everyone has something to be confident about.
So this realization made my sadness turn into confidence.
So I apply again the following year
I apply again for the Miss Universe Japan in the following year.
And this one. This time they called me.
I won.
Yeah.
I won the Miss Universe of Japan.
Thank you.
Yes, I became the Miss Universe of Japan. And it’s from that.
I have achieved so many things. My life totally changed.
I mean, the Japanese prizes are
incredible. And then I was interviewed by The Washington Post.
I was the first ever Miss Universe Japan to speak at the Olympics.
Who have another? Well, my life totally changed.
And because of that realization,
because I was able to realize that I want to do
so many things in my life were granted. And I was able to realize that.
I saw my face to be confident about. And something to be proud about.
So my message to you is that just like I did,
every single one of you here can change your life with confidence.
Confidence is the key to overcoming the challenges of tomorrow.
And yes this is me right now in two years. Such a big difference, right?
So above all the achievements I have, one made me happy
the most was that a girl like me,
a minority messaged me and telling me that I gave her confidence.
So confidence did not change only my life,
but confidence changed the life of people around me.
So from today, please look at yourself
and think of who you are. Please be proud of yourself and be confident.
Thank you.