MUN student from Ship Harbour wins national pageant
It was a moment she had dreamed about for years.
Shauna Griffiths of Ship Harbour couldn’t help but break down in tears when — while standing onstage at the Richmond Hill Centre with a group of other women from across the country — her name was announced as the winner of the 2018 Miss Canada Globe pageant.
“Oh my gosh, it was so surreal,” the 21-year told The Telegram Monday. “It was one of those moments I will never forget. It was like I was in a movie. … When they played the national anthem, I was just bawling. I was a mess.”
With the victory, Griffiths earns the right to represent Canada at an international pageant in Albania in October 2019.
A kinesiology student at Memorial University, Griffiths beat about 40 other women to take the title, finishing with the best combined points in various categories, including evening gown, swimsuit, interview, platform, conduct, national costume, question and answer, and talent. While there was no provinciallevel pageant, she was the only one competing from this province.
Along the way to earning the title, Griffiths — a model with East Coast Model Development who finished in the top 10 in Miss Achievement NL in 2014 — picked up awards as Miss Runway and Miss Ambassador, the latter of which she won for raising the most money for the pageant’s charities.
Griffiths said the week-long pageant had a grueling schedule, especially since she was battling the flu.
“You’re supposed to stay so poised throughout the competition, but I was so sick, I was sneezing and coughing,” she said in a noticeably hoarse voice. “A lot of the girls were really sick, actually.”
But she managed to hold it together, even in the talent competition, in which she sang an Adele song.
“Turns out, it was one of the best times I ever performed,” she said.
Griffiths, who lives in St. John’s while in school, said competing in the pageant has helped her become even more confident and given her many opportunities.
She’s not set on a career path yet, but her short-term goal is to continue working with the World University Service of Canada to help recruit refugees at MUN.
“We have international students, but we don’t have refugees,” said Griffiths, who worked at MUN’S international office. “Education is the basis of everything and many of these people would never get the opportunity to advance their education.”
Griffiths believes that if each student could pay just $1 more for tuition, it would help recruit one refugee.
“There’s a lot of work to be done,” she said, “but it’s a start.”
Until school starts next week, Griffiths plans to recover from a busy week.
“I’m exhausted,” she said. “It’ll be good to relax for a bit.”