Her school days were spent at De Hoop Nursery, Redeemer Primary, Helena Primary and Saint Stanislaus College.

She appears too slim for a pageant stage that requires modelling a swimsuit. But she is not bothered. She is pretty, charming and very easy to talk with.

Although she is good at English, she loves working with figures, and towards this end, she is attending classes at the Accountancy Training Centre in Georgetown.

She is enjoying the popularity that comes with being in the Miss Guyana Universe Pageant.

Pranita enjoys singing and dancing and says her family is very supportive of her decision to enter the pageant. In fact, according to Pranita, her sister is more excited that she is about the whole thing!

NO one should have any qualms about Leanna Damond, 25, of New Amsterdam.

For this pageant, she is an instant front-runner. Her height and body shape seems ideal. She is beautiful and bright.

A product of President's College, she gained 10 subjects at CXC and has worked as a teacher and bookkeeper. She should start her final year in Economics at the University of Guyana this September.

Her pageant experiences include Miss UG, Miss Guyana Jaycees and Miss Bartica Regatta.

WITTY Mandy Issac, 17, is from Bartica in Region Seven. She is a student at the Bartica Business School. She enjoys designing, playing pools and cooking.

Her experience on the stage includes participating in the Miss Bartica Trade and Tourism and Miss Bartica Regatta pageants.

Mandy joined the Miss Guyana Universe pageant for the opportunity to make it big for her country on the international stage.

"I'm confident that I will make it to the end," she says.

She feels the advice of having sex until after marriage is not being heeded enough and so she has chosen as her platform `Teenage Pregnancy’.

Shevon Thomas, 21, of Lethem in Region Nine has the toughest task at hand competing in the Miss Guyana Universe pageant.

The pageant is billed for February 22 and she has exams from February 13 - 21!

Shevon is a first year student at the Cyril Potter College of Education where she is enrolled in the secondary programme. She taught at the St. Ignatius Secondary School before moving to college.

She admits that the schedule is tough and she has had to miss some practice sessions.

Shevon likes dancing and enjoys the scenery of the Savannahs, particularly the creeks and falls.

She participated in the Miss Rupununi Pageant 2001.

Danielle McIntyre, 22, of Linden is no stranger.

She is a Stabroek News Advertising Clerk in the mining town.

She loves working on the computer and plans to start Computer Science at the University of Guyana this September.

A charming personality, Danielle received the fourth-runner-up spot at the last Miss Guyana World Pageant. She also is queen of Linden.

Danielle decided to get into this pageant as she wants to be written down in history as an Ambassador of Guyana.