“I can’t believe I’m Miss Canada,” Said Winner Priya Madaan!
“I was so surprised when my name was called and they crowned me,” Madaan said Sunday on her way home to Windsor from Montreal, where the national competition was held. “It’s still such a shock to me. I can’t believe I’m Miss Canada.”
TORONTO – An Indo-Canadian girl from Ontario, who is a first-year nursing student at the University of Windsor, has won the prestigious crown of Miss Canada 2014.
On Saturday, 18-year-old Priya Madaan competed against 18 other finalists from across Canada, held in Montreal.
“I was so surprised when my name was called and they crowned me,” Madaan said Sunday on her way home to Windsor from Montreal, where the national competition was held. “It’s still such a shock to me. I can’t believe I’m Miss Canada.”
“I was so surprised when my name was called and they crowned me. It’s still such a shock to me. I can’t believe I’m Miss Canada,” said Madaan.
She said she was proud of her accomplishment because she feels the competition is more about personality than beauty.
“It focuses on crowing a positive female role model who is charismatic, intelligent and passionate for a cause dear to her heart,” said Madaan. “It’s the best feeling in the world knowing that I was chosen to represent all of Canada.”
Madaan said she appreciates that the competition focuses on inner beauty because people come in many different shapes and sizes, but everyone has something unique to bring to the table that makes them beautiful in their own way.
“This competition was the most amazing thing I’ve experienced in my life,” said Madaan. “It was unlike anything I’ve ever done before. I met so many down to earth and amazing girls and we all connected from day one.”
“I learned more about the organisation and realised it’s a personality-based competition and it’s not based on beauty at all,” she said. “Being onstage is the greatest feeling in the world so I think I want to continue on doing more pageants later on, but this year I just want to focus on reigning my title as Miss Canada 2014.”
Madaan who is a high achiever in academics, also actively volunteers in the Heart and Stroke Foundation as well as the Canadian World Education Foundation. She is also part of the Punjabi Students Association.
Going forward, Madaan said she plans to use her title to work on starting a nationwide campaign to assist underprivileged and at-risk youth obtain the financial support they need to graduate high school and pursue further education, and not just in Canada, but all across the world.
“The crown will help me raise awareness for this cause that I’m passionate about and hopefully others will be passionate about it, too,” said Madaan.
This was Madaan’s second pageant. Last year, she said she entered the Miss Via Italia pageant for fun and placed second runner-up.
The best thing about winning Miss Canada 2014 is the opportunity to have a positive influence on others, said Madaan.
“To me, being Miss Canada means being a positive role model to the younger generation and showing them that their dreams can come true if they work for them,” said Madaan.
