Glitz and Wit: Road to the Crown

by Erica Mae G. Cala

Blinding lights, booming music, wild cheers and loud applausesyes, that's a pageant!

Filipinosareknowntobeoneof the biggest fans of pageants. For the longest time, we have seen how it becameasourceofentertainmentinour country. Festivities and celebrations cannotbecompletedwithoutit.Ithasto happen. Inthisregard,school context is no exception. In fact, it is one of the platforms where some of the famous beauty queens discover their love for pageantry. It's not just a place for fun and excitement, but also a way of discovering oneself and finding one’s innate qualities. It's not just about glitz and glamour, it is also about wit and grit.

The world of pageantry can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. Exciting for the audience and nervewracking for the contestants –somehow, these are true. But, not entirely because it could also be nervewracking for the audience, but exciting for the contestants. Nevertheless, everyone shares a common question in their mind – who will be the winner? With all the steps and turns, clapping and shouting, who would know?

These describe best the recently concluded Mr. and Ms. CAPSU Burias that was held during the Intramural MeetatCAPSUBuriasGymnasiumlast Nov. 17. For the very first time, again, after two years of pandemic, the event finally kicked off. Five departments clashed for clashed for the crowns, including the College of Education as Mentors Team (Joshua Nepomuceno, Jingky Abale, Kristine Jill Llegue, and Keinth Villacastin), College of Education as Mentors Team (Joshua Nepomuceno, Jingky Abale, Kristine Jill Llegue, and Keinth Villacastin), College of ManagementastheBankerzTeam(Rita Mae Sioco and Jerecho Once), College of Agriculture and Forestry as D'Champs Team (Romelyn Nastor and KimFerro),DepartmentofAgricultural and Biosystems Engineering as the ABEngers Team (Angel Mae Miguel and Kent Begona), and the Laboratory HighSchoolastheSMASHERSTEAM (Mary Estelle Reanna Loja and Zaniel Baranda).

As they vied for the title, they walked the stage and displayed their individuality. The whole gymnasium thundered with the echo of squeaks and screams coming from the audience as they gave their best ramps and poses in every category. Everybody was in the momentofrushandblast.Theaudience wasinthemiddleofmakingtheloudest cheer theycould give.

As the pageant came closer to theannouncementofwinners,everyone was getting a grip on their seat. They went all out on supporting their bets. The awarding of winners started with the minor categories for the male and female contestants. These included Best in Production Number bagged by Keinth Villacastin and Mary Estelle

Reanna Loja, Mr. Friendship awarded to Joshua Nepomuceno, Mr. and Ms. Photogenic snatched by Jerecho Once andRomelynNastor,BestinSwimwear grabbed by Joshua Nepomuceno and MaryEstelleReannaLoja,whileBestin Barong Tagalog given to Keinth Villacastin, Best in Filipiniana given to Rita Mae Sioco, and Best in Interview seized by Zaniel Baranda and Angel Mae Miguel.

The awarding of the major categories was the most heart stopping portion of the event. The venue's atmosphere got more intense as the announcement of awardees began to unfold. Results were out!

Kent Begona from the ABEngers Team and Romelyn Nastor from D'Champs Team were declared the 3rd Runners Up. Followed by the 2nd Runners Up, Keinth Villacastin of the Mentors Team and Mary Estelle Reanna Loja of the SMASHERS TEAM. Zaniel Baranda of the SMASHERS TEAM and Jingky Abale of the Mentors Team were proclaimed the First Runners Up. Joshua Nepomuceno from the Mentors Team hailedasMr.CAPSUBurias2022,with Angel Mae Miguel from the ABEngers Team as Ms. CAPSU Burias 2022. Indeed, the road to the crown is long,loud,andnerve-wracking,yetfun, exciting, and entertaining. It is not only filledwithshoutsandscreams,butalso, with delight and proud moments.