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It is that time of year when a queen contemplates giving up her crown. That queen is Jade Fulford, the reigning Miss Jamaica World.
On Saturday, September 11, 2004, at the coronation of Miss Jamaica World 2004, 20 new hopefuls will stand waiting in the wings for the queen.
And she will gracefully surrender the crown.
“It’s coming to an end now, but I would say I had a really great experience. A year not everyone had a chance to experience,” said. “I’ve learnt a lot. I’ve traveled a lot. It’s been a really great experience.
Life in the spotlight is what many young women yearn for. However, the resultant scrutiny as a public figure is usually not something that they foresee. The life of Miss Jamaica World is filled with just those things. It is a far cry from a glamorous public appearances that may envision, but a mixture of the bitter with the sweet.
Always a Miss Jamaica
“When I was crowned I was told by the past queen that ‘once you are the Miss Jamaica (World) you will always be a Miss Jamaica for life’,” Fulford explained. But the recognition and responsibility that comes with being a queen are, to Jade, incidental – an aside from the real benefits of being queen. “One major way it has affected me is that before I was a really reserved and shy person. When I went out in public I was not the type of person to go around and tell anybody ‘hi’ and ‘hello’ and be friendly. But because of this it has made me be that way and it has made me be more sociable and more outgoing, because I am a public figure,” she said.
Though Jade will officially give up her crown, the title and the attendant recognition as a Miss Jamaica World will be one that is always hers. “I actually welcome it, because in a way people will always remember me for something. I’m glad for it and it’s something that is bearable,” she says of the public scrutiny. I’m happy that I’ve been in the position to represent Jamaica. I’m really thankful for it. I would never want to lose that.”
Duties
Since representing Jamaica at the Miss World Pageant in China earlier this year, where she was crowned the Continental Queen of the Caribbean, Jades time has been spent on her duties as Miss Jamaica World and completing her studies as the University of the West Indies. She now has a Bsc. in International Relations. Earning her a degree is one of the many things on Jade’s things-to-do list that she is proud of accomplishing. Another, living in Colombia for part of the life, is just one year away from being struck off.
“I’m going to Columbia in September for one year,” she said. “Everything I said I wanted to do I’m getting it done. Once I make up my mind to do so something, I have a goal in mind, I won’t stop unit I accomplish it.
However, beauty queen or not Jade, like so many people, has had her fight with self-doubt. She recalls that at the Miss World Competition there was a time when she experienced a level of self-doubt that could have affected her performance. “I remember when I was there at certain points I was beginning to lose my confidence, feeling very insecure, “she said. Be with the arrival of friends and family, Jade said she regained her previous level of confidence. “I was losing it and it showed so much,” she said. This lesson in self-confidence is one that Jade says the current contestants need to learn in preparation for the crown.
“As a Miss Jamaica World contestant I would advise all the girls to be very confident and be yourself. Don’t try to be anybody that you’re not. Who you are is more important and the judges have to assess you for you,” she said. Jade stresses confidence as perhaps they single most important aspect of winning and being a queen. “Be confident in who you are be very confident in that. I think once you feel confident inside it shows on the outside. You exude confidence,” she said.
Though Jade has not yet got a chance to officially meet with the finalists, she says that her advice will remain the same, especially as it relates to the Miss World competition.
“The Miss World is a different ballgame, because you’re representing Jamaica. There are different girls three, four, five times the amount you are competing against in the Miss Jamaica World and that is about confidence as well,” she said.
However, for the finalists in the Miss Jamaica World competition, the title of Miss World 2004 may have already begun. As Jade observed, the local pageant now mirrors very closely the Miss World Pageant, with the inclusion of the talent, sports and beach beauty competitions. “I think it makes the pageant more interesting and spicy,” says Jade of the mini competitions. “It just gives a different dimension. Now a girl can reach the top ten by her ability in sports or whatever other area. It’s like a mini pageant once again, something that will create more fun.
More Fun
There seem to be ‘more fun’ in this year’s competition for the public as well. The public vote, a feature of the 2003 competition, allows members of the public to vote their favourite contestant. This vote will have an effect on who is adjudged the eventual winner of the title. Jade says that this, too, has a positive effect on the pageant. “When you involve the public they feel like they actually have a say in what’s going on. The public can vote for who they want, so when their girl comes up nobody can say it is unfair, because they had a say in what’s going on. The people’s winner will be chosen, because they had a chance to vote,” she said.
But whoever takes the crown and is adjudged ‘the people’s winner must prepare for a lot of hard work. This, Jade says, is a facet of the being a beauty queen that many people do not understand. “It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of pressure and it really requires a strong person. I really didn’t know this until I went to China. Sometimes I was so pressured and miserable, because I had to get up early…It’s a lot of work,” she emphasized. You really have to be on your toes.
To underline the point, Jade falls into the Jamaican vernacular.
“You have to rate contestants, because they put out a lot. When I went to China I had to rate contestants ‘cause this is not easy. It’s not like a walk in the park.
“I think people normally look on beauty pageant a as something that is superficial and vain, that don’t require that much intelligence, but on the contrary, nowadays beauty queens are so much more,” said the woman who will soon relinquish the Miss Jamaica World crown.
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