Miss World PH Tracy Maureen Perez recalls her pageant journey
Tracy Maureen Perez, who is set to represent the Philippines in the upcoming Miss World 2021 competition, reveals that it was her bosses who pushed her to join pageants.
Despite having a mom who was a beauty queen, the 28-year-old Cebuana never thought she'd become one in her lifetime.
"If anyone ever told me when I was younger that someday I would be a beauty queen, I would’ve just straight out smiled, said thanks, and walked away. Who would have thought that it would actually come true??" she said in a blog entry.
Her mom, Chona, was one of Cebu’s Five Prettiest and a finalist for Miss Philippines 1979, but she said she never imagined herself following her mother's footsteps. Tracy also revealed that Chona "never really talked me into doing pageants either."
It was only when she started working that she was able to try pageantry. Tracy was chosen to participate in her company's pageant, and the rest they say, is history.
Tracy recounted that time when she received a call telling her that she passed the initial screening of Miss Cebu. Turns out, it was her bosses who filed her application.
She has since then joined one pageant after another until she "felt worthy" to represent her city and country in national and international pageants.
In 2018, she won Binibining Cebu Charity, and in 2021 she became Miss World Philippines 2021 after three tries.
"Looking back now, I really don’t think I would be Miss World Philippines if not for them! I owe every bit of experience, growth, and triumph to them," Perez wrote.
She ended her blog writing the moral of the story. "Keep trying, keep growing, and keep believing! You too can do it!"
Tracy is among the 40 finalists in the upcoming Miss World 2021 pageant happening this Mar. 17 (Philippine time) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.