`Winning is not an option’
– Miss CARICOM International pageant delegate
by Shawnel Cudjoe
Guyana Chronicle
June 6, 2004
SHE stands at five feet, eleven inches without heels and one cannot help but think that 19-year-old Kaye-Ann Hall will have an advantage over her competitors because of her height alone.
Kaye-Ann, a customer agent at Universal Airlines, is Guyana’s delegate for the upcoming Miss CARICOM International Pageant scheduled for July 10 at the National Cultural Centre.
The soft-spoken young woman with a very firm handshake, who is a curvaceous 34-26-39, told the Sunday Chronicle that winning the crown is not an option; it must be done.
Kaye-Ann lives on Sandy Babb Street, Kitty, with her mom Patricia Hall and dad Colin Franklin.
Describing what it was like growing up as an only child, she said she never missed having a sibling around, but instead enjoyed the “one-on-one” moments with her parents in the very simple but cozy atmosphere they call home.
“I never missed having a brother or sister, because most times I had the pleasure of having a cousin around. Even if that was not the case, I would have been okay,” she said.
Although she grew up in a home where all her needs were provided for, Kaye-Ann said that she was never spoiled, since her parents came down “tough” on the issues that really mattered.
Even before she wrote the Secondary School Entrance Examination (SSEE), the long-limbed beauty related that she had set her sights on Queens College. This was not to be.
On the final day of the SSEE, she came down with the flu and as she put it,” was in and out of hospital, all day long.
She remembered falling sick just after being presented with her Mathematics paper.
“I was rushed to the hospital,” she recalled.
Writing the examination another day was out of the question, so late in the afternoon when all the other children were at home with their parents, Kaye-Ann was sitting in the classroom at the Comenius Primary School surrounded by exam officials while her parents waited outside.
She said at that time, failure at the examination was the only thing on her mind.
She surprised all, when she placed second in her school with 549 marks and secured herself a spot at Bishops’ High School.
Her academic qualifications include eight subjects with grade one and two passes at the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) level, three CAPE subjects and `A’ Levels.
Her motivational statement is “there is nobody, no place, and nothing that can control me because I am the only thinker in my mind”.
Her advice to young people is to adopt positive attitudes, and keep away from those with negative opinions.
The saying ‘expect the unexpected’ was apt in her case when she was selected as Guyana’s representative for the pageant.
“I was pushed by my neighbour to enter this pageant,” she said, adding that she would not have done it on her own.
Kaye-Ann recalled that her neighbour would be calling her day after day at work to find out if she had sent in the application. She eventually did.
She got her first phone call informing her that she was one of 20 persons short-listed for the pageant. Then it was down to sixteen.
Interviews with questions based on CARICOM and a ‘getting to know you process’ followed, where the final four girls were selected.
Another set of difficult questioning and a swimsuit segment followed, before she got the call telling her that she was the one.
“I was at home telling my parents how the interview went and how I felt as though they were prying into me in the swim wear - since I am a very conservative person - when my mobile phone rang”.
She said that she headed off to the bedroom to take the call and before the person could say anything, someone in the background shouted “just tell the girl she had been chosen”.
“I started screaming and right away I called my best friend Jessica and told her that I was chosen.” She recalled it was a very emotional moment since they were both crying.
Kaye-Ann said that she felt very proud of her achievement, since she was chosen in front of girls whom she recognised as being in pageants before.
She said her parents are both happy and supportive of her.
She is currently receiving training in walking, interviews and postures. For her platform for the pageant, she will be focusing on how CARICOM can assist in youth development.
She said that in order to keep her body fit, she has been visiting the gym ever since she was chosen.
The aspiration of this beauty is to become the executive of her company someday.
Hall said that the furthering of her studies will be put on hold for another year because: “I know I will be winning the pageant and will have to be performing CARICOM duties”.