“WITH GOD all things are possible.”
With that message, Ashley Lashley has begun her truncated reign as the new Miss Teen Barbados Universal.
Last May Lashley competed against nine other beauties in the annual teen pageant and after a fiery contest that saw her copping the Best Performance in Swimwear, Best Gown and the Director’s Award Of Excellence, she was beaten into second place by Aleah Harris.
However, after some controversy last month, Harris resigned her position, making way for Lashley to reign for the remainder of this year.
In an interview with WEEKEND BUZZ at her Halls Road, St Michael home, the 16-year-old recalled how distraught she was on the night it was announced she was the first runner-up.
“Entering Miss Teen Barbados was always one of the goals that I wanted to accomplish. From the time I was a little girl I saw myself as a pageant queen,” she said with a smile.
But on the night of May 17, 2015, that dream and her hope for an early birthday present were dashed.
That is, until she was at home one day when she received a call from director of the pageant, Clairmonte Grazette with the news that she was the new Miss Teen Barbados.
“Now that I have been appointed the new Miss Teen Barbados I am indeed very happy to have this honour thrust upon me and I’ve accepted this inheritance with a deep sense of humility and respect,” she said.
“The circumstances under which I inherited the crown doesn’t take away from the excitement because I have an awesome responsibility of being a role model . . . for all young people but particularly for young girls who have low self-esteem, and who are marginalised and disadvantaged.
“My solemn message to them would be you don’t have to wear a crown to be called a queen because you are within your true self,” Lashley added.
Lashley is the daughter of former parliamentarian Hamilton Lashley and Joycelyn Brathwaite. She is a student of The Lodge School where she is pursuing CAPE (advanced) examinations in sociology, food and nutrition, Caribbean studies and literatures in English.
Prior to Lodge, Lashley attended the Graydon Sealy Secondary School where she sat her first CXC at the age of 12 before transferring to the Alexandra School where she gained a further seven CXC passes.
A former student of the Wesley Hall Infants/Junior School, Lashley joined the 27th Brownie Unit at Pax Hill where she received the highest honour awarded to a Barbados Brownie and went on to join the Girl Guides.
“I am a highly motivated, high-spirited, determined and self-styled individual. One of my basic beliefs in life is to let no obstacle be greater than the cause,” she said.
“My hobbies involve modelling, playing netball, debating, reading some of the works of William Shakespeare and my favourite novel is Wuthering Heights.
“I was prompted to enter the Miss Teen Barbados pageant because it was always one of my goals. I wanted to achieve having had a traumatic experience at that time and I was determined not to let that one experience stop me from achieving my goals since I believe that when one door closes another one is open.
“. . . With God all things are possible.”
Since her tenure began, Lashley said there had been a few negative comments made about the circumstances surrounding her accession but she was not daunted because she knew there was work for her to do.
“Within the limited time of being the new Miss Teen Barbados I want to be an advocate for children’s rights and act as a good ambassador for young people in Barbados and in the region. In addition, I hope to represent our country in an overseas teen universal pageant.
“My future goals in life are to become a successful entrepreneur, specialising in fashion design and production management.
“I’ve already started this process through a visual, make-up, fashion and technology multimedia production designed for secondary and tertiary level schools. …I hope to make myself, my family and the entire island proud.” (SDB Media)