Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who supported me throughout my 2009-2010 pageant journey. I mean that with immense appreciation and gratitude--it has changed the course of my life for the better.

On that note, I also wanted to inform you that this blog is now, officially, defunct. It will now only serve as an online time capsule-like storage space for the Miss Teen Canada-World portion of my life.

I will now forward you to my next and on-going endeavour: Universal Perspectives Media. I guarantee that my online magazine/blog will be more tremendously exciting than the goings-on in the life of a teenage beauty queen.

And with that, I bid you adieu.

Thanks again.

Theresa

I feel guilty about not having posted in quite some time.

Kind of cliched, right? There's always at least one post of apology in a blog. "Sorry for not being up-to-date with the happenings in my life" or what have you. Even still...

I've been tremendously busy with everything in my life since the last time I posted. I quit my part-time job and moved out of my home (Vaughan) into a downtown Toronto condominium with my roommates. I stayed on residence at Ryerson University last year, but since I'm no longer a first-year, I couldn't go back. (Not that I wanted to--residence life is best kept to a year, maximum) That came with the necessary transition period, plus getting used to being at school full-time again. (I did two summer courses to fast-track my degree requirements...which probably wasn't the best idea what with an already busy summer)

I also made the motions to start working on my independent media company as well as work on several articles for my magazine, Universal Perspectives. Because our official website isn't ready yet, I opened a Wordpress blog to store all info and keep readers up-to-date on our progress. The magazine currently includes film reviews, coverage of cultural events (such as Scotiabank Nuit Blanche) and other interesting articles.

At the same time, I've started doing TV journalism this year, which is unlike anything I've ever done before. This is writing for TV, shooting and editing your own videos and recording voiceovers. That has eaten up a huge chunk of my time, but is actually practical, relevant to my career aspirations and super fun. Additionally, I started working for RUtv News, Ryerson's campus broadcast news program, as a reporter. I've done two stories so far; one on LG Fashion Week with regards to the School of Fashion and another on a new relaxation technique called Laughter Yoga.

I've recently been promoted at Dreams Fulfilled Relief Organization (DFRO), the charitable non-profit I work for and support. From being the executive assistant and youth program coordinator, I'm now the executive assistant and youth program director. That means I'm responsible for my own team of volunteers as well as developing strategic, mission-driven programs to cater to the youth in Canada. That means that I also have to cut back on working on my own magazine to dedicate time to DFRO.

And continuing on...

I've made a couple appearances as Miss Teen Vaughan since the national pageant. During the Thanksgiving Weekend, I attended the Woodbridge Fair opening ceremonies as a special guest, even sitting onstage with Mayor Linda Jackson, several city ward councilors and politicians, as well as police and fire department representatives. After that, I was free to roam around (and help out with the DFRO booth!). I posed for pictures with several kids, witnessed a few magic tricks and enjoyed a delicious pork-pulled sandwich! Everyone was so nice, including the people in charge of the pumpkin contest and all the other vendors. I almost got involved in a cow-milking competition between the politicians, police and the fire fighters. I was the politician team, but luckily there were enough players for me to go without having to (most likely) get trampled on by a bovine.

Most recently, I took part in the SantaFest parade in Maple just this past weekend. One of the best times I've had in a while! Aside from the fact that the weather did an almost 180 from the previous day; it was super cold outside. I dressed up as a snowflake-like person, full silvery makeup along with rhinestones on my cheek in a snowflake-like design, white coat + twinkling crown finished off the outfit. I had the good fortune of riding on a red Mercedes convertible (thanks Mercedes-Benz Maple!) with some of the dealership staff. They were very kind and accommodating. The cars that were there from Mercedes included a Smart Car, an SLS AMG (What a beaut!) and a convertible. After the parade finished and the three cars made their back to Canada's Wonderland parking lot, where the floats gathered before the start of the parade, the driver of the AMG offered me a ride. So stoked! That ride in the AMG was the highlight of my weekend. So fast. So low. So exciting.

To look forward to:

On November 26th, I'll be visiting my high school, Holy Cross Catholic Academy. I was invited to return as a guest speaker--talking to Grade 10s about the university life and decision-making for the transition between high school and post-secondary. It was such an honour to be asked and to be honest, I'm actually quite nervous.

I was also just selected to attend the TEDxRyersonU conference, which is an independently organized TED event. These events bring together inspiring speakers, industry professionals, to provide a chance to network and share ideas. This particular event is catered only to the Ryerson community. Only 150 attendees were selected out of an undisclosed number of applicants, which includes not only students, but alumni, profs and so much more. The "goal is to bring all of the creative minds and unique backgrounds of the Ryerson community under one roof, for one day." Again, so stoked to have received my invitation. This event takes place on the 27th of November.

It would seem that my tenure as a 2010 Miss Teen Canada-World finalist is coming to an end. On November 28, I'll be heading to the Miss Teen Ontario-World pageant to welcome this year's Ontario delegates and finish off my reign as Miss Teen Vaughan-World. It's been an incredible, life-changing year for me and I don't regret any moment of it. I'm very excited to attend this year's Ontario pageant and see all the girls that will potentially have their lives changed as a result of taking part of this pageant. Also anticipating the chance to see the 2010 Ontario girls again! <3

TTFN (ta ta for now),

Theresa

---

Le Spicy Tune: All We Want by Elias. Funny story, my friends and I got rejected from their show around this time last year. But that rejection ultimately led to the discovery of the best frozen yogurt place ever: Blushberry. I guess the story wasn't that funny.

Give me truth, give me lies
give me answers in your eyes
All this time, we've been week
Maybe there's no guarantees
All this proof, all these lies
All the answers in disguise

My feet are still recovering.

All joking aside, the Miss Teen Canada-World was a fantastic experience. I don't even think there's a point in describing it, because so many other girls who competed have and I don't want to bore you with the same details that you could read elsewhere.

So instead of saying that I've met amazing girls from all over Canada and learned more and had more fun than was expected, I'm going to give you some information that might be only exclusive to me.

We stayed at the Delta Chelsea...which is literally a hop, skip and a jump from my condo. That was interesting; I felt as though I was still at home, except I wasn't at all, due to being confined in the hotel for rehearsals and the actual competition. I apologize for the obviousness.

We also ate more starch than I had prepared myself for. I went from having little to no starch in my diet to consuming 4-7 donuts a night. Yeah--I know.

Let's get to the nitty-gritty. I clearly did not win the pageant. (But congrats to Channing Smendziuk, the new Miss Teen Canada-World. She is completely and utterly deserving of the title and I'm very happy for her.) Nor did I enter into Top 20. But I did score the highest in the blogging component (as did Shelby Gobbo).

I suppose that proved to reaffirm my journalistic skills. It was very nice.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to meet with Casie Stewart from MTV (as was my one expectant wish) at the pageant, due to her prior engagements. Nor did I meet any of the other blogging judges at the show, for that matter (I did at a later date, but we'll get to that). An exciting moment was when I met with Lorraine Zander (judge of the final show, editor of Faze Magazine) who, coincidentally, wore my same evening gown at last year's MTC-W! I met her and her husband and she asked for a photo with me. It was a beautiful Thien Le number (and looking back, I think I might've tied it wrong...); they're also good friends of his.

My best friends came out to see me, so that was nice. They particularly enjoyed the bathing suit sequence, for reasons other than what you might think. Watch videos to understand what I mean.

The pageant provided a nice, but sort of hectic, intermission to my everyday life. The pageant week fell right during my midterm for my summer course, which meant that as soon as the competition was over, I had to hit the books immediately to catch up on my studies, which explains (but doesn't excuse) the rather late blog post. And I had pretty much been studying up until this past Thursday, the date of my final exam (and in between there somewhere I also chopped 8 inches off my hair. My mom wasn't too pleased).

So you know what that means kiddies, Theresa's summer has finally begun!

TTFN,

Theresa

---

Le Spicy Tune: Jigsaw Falling Into Place by Radiohead

Just as you take my hand
Just as you write my number down
Just as the drinks arrive
Just as they play your favourite song
As your bad day disappears
No longer wound up like a spring
Before you've had too much
Come back in focus again

The voting polls have now been opened! Go to http://www.missteencanadaworld.com/this_year/contestant_detail/208 and please help me out by voting for me!

You have to become a VIP member in order to process your vote (+age, email, first and last name). Confirm your email to activate your account. It might say that it didn't work BUT IT DID. If you go back to the profile page and submit your email IT WILL WORK.

Other than that, thank you so much! I leave today for a week's worth of pageantry. It's crunch time.

Muchos gracias y amor,

Theresa

CTV + Free The Children = a match made in Heaven

As a student studying journalism and media and also as an active member in the non-profit sector, I have dedicated this period of my life to analyzing and participating in the relations between the two realms.

That being said, at its most fundamental, media is responsible for the providing of information and news to the public. Throughout history, they have often been used as propaganda and manipulative tools by government administrations, but they’ve also been used to keep those very same institutions in check. This is made possible only with a liberal, democratic form of government and more importantly, privately owned broadcasting systems—of which CTV is Canada’s largest. The same idea befits non-profit organizations, many of whom are responsible for keeping the government and politicians who are in power accountable for their actions.

But CTV is a corporate giant. Ultimately, as a for-profit corporation, they exist to make money (as the law requires them). It is logical to conclude that first and foremost, CTV’s priority is to increase sales (in their case, viewership) to achieve greater influence and make more money.

Society’s current economic system is capitalism and in recent history, there have been three distinct phases. The latest is a customer-driven system, where the goal is no longer just about the share price (ie: monetary value of the company), but about consumer needs.

And so an effective strategy emerged as a way to meet the needs of consumers who are growing more and more socially aware. The idea of community partnerships and corporate social responsibility (CSR). And, connecting back to the above point, CSR is a strategy used to draw in more revenue for large corporations (ie: CTV) by increasing public trust in the company.

[Please note: these are all my own analyses based on research and current trends as there exists (via accessible online search engines) very little factual information on the reasons behind the partnership.]

Now, let us first address Free the Children’s (FTC) side of this community partnership. 2007 was the year in which CTV became a key partner. That was also the year that FTC launched its first Me to We Day celebration. The We Day initiative would not have been an easy task. Its success and high profile campaign was assisted by CTV’s involvement. That is one of the rewards reaped by FTC—national media coverage. Awareness. Publicity. This is not to say that Free the Children wasn’t already a recognized charity—Craig Kielburger received copious amounts of press coverage with his humanitarian work over the years.

However, CTV’s involvement signifies a cemented relationship with mutual benefits. Instead of only appearing on broadcast systems when an event occurs or if there is a news-worthy story, Free the Children now enjoys a higher frequency of national broadcasts, as well as the ease and camaraderie allotted to partners. “With CTV’s continued commitment and support we will empower this generation of youth to lead this building movement of change,” said Craig Kielburger in an April 15, 2010 press release.

More recently, viewers saw Craig Kielburger in Haiti reporting on the earthquake and in downtown Toronto reporting on the G20; again, as a result of the union. His public profile grows with each appearance in the media as well as that which he represents—FTC.

It is easy to see the benefits enjoyed by FTC in this partnership, whereas benefits for CTV may be slightly more difficult to perceive.

Perhaps we could begin by noting changes in other businesses. Starbucks, for example, heavily emphasizes the fact that they use Fair Trade coffee; Motorola, The GAP and other brands collaborated with U2’s Bono initiative with the RED Campaign to raise money/awareness for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

According to a 2007 study by the Boston College Carroll School of Management’s Center for Corporate Citizenship, 3 out of 4 large corporations recognize the importance of corporate citizenship (that is, CSR) for improving reputation and image. 72% of privately-held companies (not in public trust/shares) hold their consumers in high regard as one of the top motivating factors for business goals and plans. In turn, 49% of the public (consumers) expect corporations to be responsible for helping reduce the gap between rich and poor.

In a 2006 survey by GreenBiz.com, results found that the Millennial generation (those born in the early 90’s and into the Millennium) are the new “agents of social change” (of those surveyed, 89% of MBA students believe business professionals should take social and environmental impacts into account when making business decisions). While all the above were studies done in the United States, because of the intricately related business markets of Canada and our southern neighbour, results apply very similarly to Canadians.

Taking all of this into account, CTV’s decision to become a key partner of Free the Children was a smart and well-timed manoeuvre. Publicly supporting an established charitable organization fits right into the trend of corporations becoming socially aware and accountable to the public. This gives them a leg up on their competition while also building public trust.

CTV, which owns other networks such as MTV Canada and MuchMusic, constructs a wonderful image for itself by sending on-air personalities (ex: Jessi Cruickshank of MTV Live) on charitable missions to Third-World countries and organizing fundraisers specifically for Free the Children. As huge purveyors of entertainment, they expand their target audience by introducing a philanthropic tint to their broadcasts and draw in more viewers and public sympathy. After all, people feel good about doing good. Once again, this is all part of creating their brand.

Boston College defines CSR as the commitment of companies to: 1) Minimize harm and negative consequences of business activities to consumers and society. 2) Maximize benefits to contribute to social and economic well-being. 3) Be accountable to stakeholders by building trust and being open about the progress and setbacks of operating ethically. And here’s the kicker: 4) Companies have to be profitable as it is obligated to society to return profits to shareholders.

It is important to understand that while somewhere some people within the many corporate offices of CTV truly wanted to help impoverished children, the final decision to partner up with FTC could only have been made if it were to prove beneficial to the company itself. Such is the reality in today’s capitalist world.

TTFN,

Theresa

---

You get two tunes this post because I forgot to include one in the previous post. Yay!

Le Spicy Tune #1: Take Me Out (Franz Ferdinand cover) by Scissor Sisters. This is an awesome jazzy rendition of the thumpin' Franz Ferdinand song.

And if you leave here
You leave me broken, shattered, I lie
I'm just a crosshair
I'm just a shot, then we can die

Le Spicy Tune #2: Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons. These London men make the banjo cool.

Tremble Little Lion Man,
You'll never settle any of your scores
Your grace is wasted in your face,
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck