Thobile Steyn takes us through her journey as her reign is almost over
Steyn said she will forever be grateful for the opportunity of being Miss Soweto.
The time for reigning Miss Soweto, Thobile Steyn to pass over the crown to the next beauty queen is almost here and she shares with us her journey. Steyn said she will forever be grateful for the opportunity and one of the best things that this opportunity has brought is that her love for helping and doing the best for others became so much easier. Her successes during the journey includes projects such as her school shoe drive, motivating young girls who aspire to be in pageants and sanitary towel drives. She said while she enjoyed her reign, her biggest challenge was trying to complete her Honours degree while doing her Miss Soweto duties. She says she managed to conquer with the support of her loved ones.
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Q: What’s the biggest lesson you’re taking with from being Miss Soweto?
A: In life you must grab every opportunity that comes your way, be willing to learn and don’t let fear stand in your way. From this opportunity, I’m now more confident in how I speak, and able to address issues, I’d otherwise shy away from. This platform has enabled me to become an advocate for young women in my community.
Q: How has being Miss Soweto in the midst of the pandemic been?
A: The pandemic has interfered with a lot of my plans. I would have loved to have given more of my time by hosting and organising fundraising and charity events. By also engaging with the youth face-to-face, especially in Soweto about challenges and issues they are faced with and how we can overcome them. Another thing I wanted to do was to volunteer in community activities such as picking up litter around Soweto as well as soup drives.
Q: Any positive lessons you’ve learned from the pandemic? A: The covid 19 pandemic has taught me how to positively adapt to change. Change comes with a lot of challenges and I had to change a lot of things in my life, from the way I study, to my interactions with my family and friends. Q: Given a chance and if it was possible, would you do this again?
A: Absolutely! I took that step and it certainly paid off. This opportunity really builds character and it is worth the experience. You gain so much knowledge especially through the workshops that we had, courtesy of White Star as the main sponsor. It is a wonderful experience to meet people you can call sisters, and help each other out. It was liberating to see young girls from Soweto taking a stand and truly showing the world what we are capable of.
Q: Going forward, what plans do you have, are you considering continuing with pageants?
A: I hope to continue on with a lot of initiatives such as career guidance so that I can help provide more skills to the people of Soweto and to be able to continue assisting students with registering at a higher institution of learning. Another project I hope will become a success is my current #EndGenerationalStigma Mental health awareness project. I hope this project shines a light on the issues of mental health among young people in Soweto and hopefully prevent any future suicide attempts from occurring. And yes, I am considering doing more pageants in the future.
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