Dalpark Extension One resident Caitlin de Jager is hoping to make a difference during her reign as Teen Miss Gauteng 2017/2018.
Entering the pageant was a first for the 18-year-old, who is a first-year student at Varsity College, where she is studying business principles and practice.
Her wonderfully supportive family is dad Quinton, mom Rhonda and brother Kyle (23).
• Who or what inspired you to enter the pageant?
My inspirations regarding philanthropic pageants have always been a childhood dream specifically every time I saw Miss South Africa receive her crown.
I always knew that was something I needed to do.
When I started Varsity College a friend of mine ignited the dream once again and I knew it was worth a try.
Role Models organisation has provided a platform for girls of any size, height and weight which meant the world to me because I felt like for once, someone didn’t have anything to say about my physical features and instead wanted to know about what I had to say.
That’s when I knew this was my kind of thing.
• What was your favourite part of the experience?
My favourite part has to be the amount of support from my friends and family.
While I was backstage getting ready to walk on the ramp, my little cousins spotted me from the front row seats and lost their minds.
It had to be the absolute highlight, especially when the crowd was asked who they thought would win the title and all I heard was my name.
There’s no better feeling than knowing someone believes in you.
• What would you like to accomplish during your reign?
I would like to be a channel of grace, peace and love.
I would love to learn and share as much as I possibly can.
I plan on doing my absolute best in everything handed to me.
The ultimate goal is to make a difference in any possible way.
In the end, this alone is already an accomplishment, so from here on I plan on growing into an individual whom the Roles Model organisation will be proud of.
• Do you have any hobbies or special interests?
I love reading romantic novels after I’ve watched the movie.
I enjoy playing soccer and gluing my eyes to the Crime and Investigation channel.
I could watch shark documentaries for hours.
I love the ocean and its exotic wonders deep within.
I’m always up for a good time with good food and good company.
Before I started Varsity College I was involved in community service at the Brakpan SPCA, which is something I would like to pursue again.
• What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
It’s okay to be alone. It’s okay to do things alone or even walk alone.
Talk to yourself if you want to.
Once you learn how to enjoy your own company, you’ll begin to accept who you are, focus on yourself and embrace yourself.
When you’ve mastered the following anyone who comes your way, whether a good or bad aura, you automatically learn how to correctly choose who you surround yourself with.
Not everyone might like you for that and that too is perfectly fine, as long as you are happy with the person you’re growing into.
You might stop physically growing, but mental and spiritual growth never ends.
Negative opinions start to build you up rather than break you down.
• Name one influential person you would like to meet and what do you want to learn from him/her?
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who stood up to the Taliban and defended her right to an education.
How she never gave up despite the obstacles and the higher authorities, and what kept her going through it all.
• Do you think social media has helped or hurt our society? Why?
Social media has hurt our society.
It has become a platform for people to create comfort zones, whether it’s the real you or someone else you’re pretending to be.
Society lives through their phones, losing that physical interaction with other people.
Not only are our real faces hidden, but so are our emotions as everyone seems to be wrapped up in expressing themselves through emojis rather than a face-to-face conversation with a box of tissues.
Social media accounts send out messages such as if you don’t have over a thousand likes on your picture, you’re not pretty enough, or you’re too skinny. Your eyebrows aren’t shaped nicely. The list is endless.
It’s almost seen as an acceptance criteria and puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on society.
It is hurting society more than we could ever imagine.
• What is the biggest challenge facing the youth today?
Peer pressure. Everyone wants to be accepted especially by the clique that is seen as ‘cool’.
Once they are trapped into peer pressure they seem to have forgotten everything they stand for and that’s when they fall.
It’s definitely something that one can simply get up from and learn their true worth, but being part of where it seems to be ‘happening’ and not missing out gives individuals a sense of belonging even if they feel left out at least he/she did or said what someone ‘cool’ would.
• What bothers you most about what is happening in the country today?
The price of goods.
Inflation makes life less affordable for those who are barely making ends meet on a daily basis and, to make matters worse, the government is always called out for corruption and unlawful use of funds.
It’s almost as if the government does not care about their people, but for some reason people seem to be voting them into parliament year after year.
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
As a post graduate trauma psychologist, building a shelter for the homeless which will educate and help them find jobs to become better people with a much better lifestyle.
On the side I will be training for the Miss South Africa pageant.
• What is your favourite thing about Brakpan?
There’s all sorts of jokes and sayings about Brakpan, but little do they know that Brakpan is slowly putting itself on the map.
It’s a wonderful sight to witness – Mall@Carnival and our very own Makro.
Events such as the Moscow Circus took place at our very own Carnival City – to which many people travelled near and far to attend.
I’m convinced that greater opportunities and transformations will take place, and I’m anxiously waiting and watching as it all happens.
Brakpan also has some of the most ambitious youngsters.
Also read: Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Dalpark teen
Pageant finalists aid Dignity Dreams
Social entrepreneur wants to make a difference
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