Interview with Urszula Urac – Canada Perfect Most Beautiful 2020 and Ms. Regal World Finalist

Firstly thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions about your pageant journey for my pageant lockdown blow it’s lovely getting to know fellow queens from across the globe.

So what made you enter pageants ?

I have always loved pageants and watched Miss Universe religiously since I was a little girl. Competing started after my 25th birthday, when I was recovering from an appendectomy. I realized life is short and I asked myself what I wanted to do and pageants were on the list. So I made inquiries, applied, and I began competing in the preliminary for Miss Universe Canada, which then allowed me to compete in Miss Universe Canada. When I realized that there were ‘Mrs.’ Pageants, I just couldn’t resist competing again. It is another way to show-case myself as a strong and beautiful woman, who has dreams and aspirations and who is a very proud Canadian! I want to leave my mark in this life and I keep coming back to pageants to do it.

Can you tell us about your pageant journey so far including any previous titles ?

My journey in competing has pretty much stayed the same over the last 18 years. Being my best emotionally, physically, and spiritually, so that I can help my community, attain sponsors and then perform exceptionally during competition. But I do tend to over-work myself and that has led on some occasions to not having my best come forward during competition.

👸🏼 Miss Southern Ontario 2002 (1 of 10) 👸🏼 Miss Universe Canada 2003 & 2004 – no title 👸🏼 Mrs. Toronto Globe 2016 (1st RU) 👸🏼 Mrs. Toronto Globe 2018 (Winner) 👸🏼 Mrs. Canada Globe 2018 👸🏼 Mrs. Galaxy Etobicoke 2019 (Winner) 👸🏼 Mrs. Galaxy Canada 2019 👸🏼 Mrs. Galaxy International 2020- no title 👸🏼 Canada’s Perfect Most Beautiful 2020 Ms. 👸🏼 Regal World- in progress

Wow what an incredible pageant journey, can you tell us why you decided to enter Ms. Regal World ?

Due to Covid_19, the CEO of Ms. Regal World reached out to me about her online pageant. I did my research and thought it would be a great experience during this time in my life and to continue to do what I love which is competing, meeting women from around the world and continuing in helping others through my platforms.

What’s the best thing that pageants have taught you ?

The best thing that pageants have taught me is to just be myself, and this has held true back in my 20’s as it does now in my 40’s. I’ve learned so much over the years, and if I can go back at the time when I was not confident, I would tell myself to be proud of who I am, just be me, love myself unconditionally and not to worry or stress over the things I could not control. Part of my message to youth is, once you know yourself, your likes, dislikes and interests, you then know what it is to be yourself. Moreover, this is a process; some will figure it out right away, for others it takes more time. I remember when I started competing in pageants in my twenties, I was told to just be myself. I did not know what that meant- just be myself, well what does that mean? And what I learned over the last 18 years since that statement came up is I am who I am and one thing I’ve realized in life is that you will never make everyone happy so once you are just happy with being you, then what other people think does not matter. We spend so much time comparing ourselves to others when the reality is, there is only one me, I am unique, made in the image of God and all I can do is be the best version of myself. There is no such thing as perfection and we cannot be caught up in wanting to be perfect, all we can be is just our best self. In the end, we have to love ourselves in order to completely succeed in life on a physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual level so that we do not have regrets and experience life to the fullest.

Can you tell us about your pageant platforms ?

My pageant platforms depend on who my audience is. Firstly, education because I consider myself a life-long learner and have always loved school and therefore became a teacher in the hopes to spread that educational love to others as it is tremendously important to the enhancement of our world. Secondly, self-esteem and body image as I know the struggles of girls and women. I’ve done various talks to girls/young women on the importance of loving themselves and empowering themselves to be the best that they can be. Thirdly, infertility because many women, including myself, have had and continue to have struggles and this takes such a physical and emotional toll.

What’s the best advice you can give to fellow pageant queens ?

The best advice I can give to fellow queens is that everything in life is a journey. You have ups and downs and situations in between. I thought life is a typical dream but as I have experienced, you just never know what is going to happen. The only way to deal with life is to be flexible, positive and persevering because you cannot control most of what will happen, but you can control your attitude, thoughts and actions in any situation. Stay centered, dream big and dance like no one is watching because you only have one life so live it to the fullest. Lastly, win with grace and lose with grace; I’ve had both experiences and it is hard when you are defeated but there is always a reason why.

Can you tell us about your achievements and community achievements ?

ACHIEVEMENTS:

~Nominated for The Waterfront Awards 2019 (Celebrating Outstanding Women) ~Nominated for the OTIP Teaching award ~Nominated for the Carl Mitchell Award for Community Engagement (University of Toronto) ~Honours Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education and Master of Education (U of T)

COMMUNITY SERVICE:

~40 Appearances in various capacities as volunteer, special guest, presenter, fundraiser, speaker, model, and nominee ~Educational Outreach Coordinator and Director for the IdealMe Enrichment Foundation ~Love Ambassador Director for The Colours of Love International Concert for Hats on for Awareness ~Motivational Talks for IdealMe, Girl Empowerment Groups in my school board and in the community at the Jean Augustine Centre 4 Young Women’s Empowerment ~Raised funds, donated, completed 5km/10km races for various charities, and volunteered for various community groups over the last 20 years

What’s a good pageant role model ?

A good pageant role model is someone who is well-rounded in all areas of the competition and someone who has won and lost, so that there is growth in who they are, not only in pageantry but in life as well.

What’s your favourite part of pageants ?

All parts of the pageant are my favourite, right from entering, going through preparations, competing, and then learning new truths about myself whether I had won or lost. Every pageant for me was a journey and I loved every moment of the excitement and the sadness because that showed me how much I’ve grown in some areas, and how much work I still need to do in other areas of who I am as a queen and a woman.

How do you deal with pageant nerves ?

Pageant nerves are always going to be part of the pageant experience because you are show casing who you are and being judged for it. I find that if I am not properly prepared then my nerves are going to be more intense. So preparation, research into the pageant system, and getting the proper rest is key to combating those nerves.

What have pageants allowed you to do ?

My pageant experience has continued giving me a voice in wanting to share my inspirational and educational message for children and youth, on an international scale to be their best, unique and amazing self. In addition, my message would extend concerning empowerment, not only for girls and for women, but for boys and men as well; true gender equality comes from educating girls about their value, and educating boys about the value of girls. Ultimately, the crown, sash and title are my tools; though they are important symbols, it is what they represent that is important. To me, pageants represent courage, strength, self-love and determination because I learned so much about myself through pageantry and I want to share my struggles and triumphs with those who may find strength in my message.

I am the girl next door, wanting to stand out in some way. I love pageants and the work that goes into competing. I believe I can make a difference in some way in this world, whether this is through pageants or another forum, I want to do something that makes me happy and pageants give me that boost because of the variety of opportunities that can be gained from them. I am not going to be in the Olympics, or the World Cup, but I can represent this beautiful country of ours, through a way that I know how.

Thank you so much for taking the time to discuss your pageant journey, platform and system is been lovely reading your answers and I with you the best with Ms. Regal World much love, Charlotte, Ms Diamond South Yorkshire 2020.