Shaeja Lee is a winner. The 16-year-old Kapaa High School junior, the only Kauai entrant in the 24 girl Miss Hawaii Teen pageant on Oahu, was popular with the judges and the other contestants. The judges selected her as the
Shaeja Lee is a winner.
The 16-year-old Kapaa High School junior, the only Kauai entrant in the 24 girl Miss Hawaii Teen pageant on Oahu, was popular with the judges and the other contestants. The judges selected her as the contests Sassy magazine “spokesmodel,” and her fellow contestants named her Miss Congeniality.
When asked why she decided to enter Miss Hawaii Teen, her first-ever beauty pageant, Lee credited her mother, Sharon Lee, a counselor at Kapaa Middle School.
“My mom has always wanted me to do this,” Shaeja said.
The contest, held at the Mamiya Theatre, “was very scary” at first, Lee said. “But the other girls were really fun. Its not like people say, with the girls all jealous and competitive. Everyone was cool and nice and friendly.”
The contest, which sent the winner on to a national competition, included a private interview with the judges in which Lee discussed her essay. Each contestant had to write on a topic of her own choosing prior to the event.
Lee wrote about domestic violence and how it can lead to dating violence, a topic she said is “close to my heart.”
“The interview was the most nerve-wracking thing I ever went through. Before it I couldnt breathe, and when I came out, I cried,” Lee said, able to laugh now that the pageant is history.
In addition to writing an essay and defending it, the contest included bathing suit, evening gown and fashion competitions.
Lee is slated to travel to all the other Hawaiian islands representing contest sponsor Sassy magazine, an Oahu-based teen publication. She will also write six articles in the next year for the magazine.
A dancer who hopes to attend a performing arts college, Lee said she will enter more pageants now that she’s had such a positive experience.
Lee was coached in her initial pageant endeavor by Dianne Ray, a Kauai YWCA public health educator.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
