“I would rather be someone respected. Because that means if you maintain your integrity, dignity and self-respect, and that means, in turn you will be loved by whoever matters and everyone loves you.” – Nicole Schmitz, Binibining Pilipinas International 2012
All this girl really needs is just the
ticket to go to Okinawa, Japan this coming October since she’s very much
ready to compete. Everyone is excited about her and when she was announced as
the representative to the Miss International pageant, many pageant fans were
upset because they were rooting for her to represent the country in the Miss
Universe Beauty pageant. This girl was born in Sidney, New South Wales, Australia
on June 28, 1988 to retired chef Udo Schmitz and Filipinas salesperson Leilani
Maturan. Her mother is from the Queen City of Cebu.
Nicole is no stranger to beauty pageants. At the
age of 16, she was Miss Teen Philippines First Runner-up and went on to win later
the Miss Mandaue Philippines 2006 where she was Best in National Costume and
evening gown. This was quickly followed the year after with a semi-finalist
performance at the Binibining Pilipinas 2007. She was chosen as Miss Avon at
that time. When she went back to Australia, she joined Model Quest Australia
where she was adjudged as the winner in 2007. The awards she got were Best in
Ramp, Best in Street Wear, Best in Swimsuit and Best in Evening Gown. A year
after, Nicole joined the Miss Philippines-Australia contest where she was
adjudged as the winner and with special awards such as Best in Long Gown, Best
in Swimsuit, Best in National Costume and Miss Photogenic. The array of titles
and awards speak for Nicole’s great performance onstage. Nicole does not only
possess these pageant credentials, she had also ramp, print, TV Hosting and
Presenting experiences. She was seen on numerous commercials and magazine
layouts.
When asked why she joined back Binibining
Pilipinas 2012, she answered that “It is something that she dreamt of for so
long as she wanted to represent the other half of herself (Nicole has dual
citizenship ; Australia and Philippines) in an international beauty pageant.
Her winning the Binibining Pilipinas International title is her gateway to
competing with other girls from different parts of the world. She said she had
been passionate about this goal and the only way to make this a reality is join
the contest once again. She said, she needs to get this out of her system before
she gets older and cannot qualify anymore for any pageant.
Now that she had been crowned Binibining
Pilipinas International, she will not rest on her laurels and believe the
people that she is all ready to join the Miss International Pageant even it is
to be held now. She takes the challenge with so much concern that she is ready
to undergo the rigorous training Binibining Pilipinas will give them. She will
also take a long look into her terpsichorean skills and will try to polish her
dance steps to prepare her further in her international contest. She is an
optimist and she promises all those who believed her that she will try as much
as possible not to leave any stones unturned just to get ready for the contest.
By winning the national title, she says that this would open a lot of doors for her. Although there are so many opportunities knocking at the door now, her main concern is to prepare for her international pageant. Some people attribute her appeal to the combination of her Fil-German heritage and she is very thankful for the complement. Although she is a veteran on stage, she still looks at Rodgil Flores as the source of the confidence she essayed in the contest. Her training under him made her in good stead.
Nicole
despite her Fil-European ancestry and generally grew up in Sidney, she always
looks at Cebu, her mother’s birthplace as her second home. She looks at Cebu
with so much fondness – the natural beauty of the place, the people and its
colorful culture. Her stay in the Philippines is mostly in Cebu and life is
always joy in every sense.
Nicole
has adapted quite well with life in the Philippines. She is always thankful
with all the people complimenting about her beauty. She says that she is a
product of intermarriage and that you don’t define people by the way they look.
The Filipino people are an intermixing of different cultures and thus there is
no singular look of who and what a Filipina should be. We should celebrate this
occurrence and thus project the new Filipina in the any world stage and be
proud to celebrate that heritage.
As a
pageant observer, she is my Top bet to win the Miss Universe Philippines crown.
Although she did not win the Top plum, she won the Binibining Pilipinas
International crown. She will be competing either in China or Japan where her
mestiza features would be well-appreciated. Her communication skills are above
par and thus it would prove her stead well when she delivers her speech in
front of the judges.
Indeed
Nicole is a very fine young lady who finished a bachelor degree in Psychology
and is presently finishing her Law Degree at the Macquarie University in
Australia. Kudos to my personal bet.
PHOTO CREDITS: Joy Ann Burton-Titular, Ron Titular, BPCI, Emerson Cebanico, WZ2012, Pinoystar blog, watchmisspageant.com, ABS-CBN, Mingsworldtravel.biz
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