CNE a bigger fair and bigger stage for Wellesley ambassador
Winding down her term, Miranda Schultz heads to Toronto this weekend to compete at the Ex
WELLESLEY FALL FAIR
AMBASSADOR Miranda Schultz is heading to the big city this weekend to represent the township at the provincial level.
As part of her role, she will be competing to be the Canadian National Exhibition Ambassador of Fairs in Toronto.
The year-long title takes the winner throughout the province as a representa- tive of the CNE and all agricultural fairs.
“It will definitely be a brand new experience,” said Schultz. “It is going to be a lot of stepping out of my comfort zone. Toronto is definitely out of my element, but it is going to be exciting and a little bit nerve-wracking at the same time.”
After already meeting the other 89 competitors at Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies’ events, Schultz says she is happy to be familiar with the other representatives going into the contest.
“So it’ll just be now we are in a new environment and the stakes are higher, we will just kind of see how it goes,” she said.
After being the reigning ambassador in Wellesley over the past year, she welcomes the opportunity to represent the community in the provincial spotlight, but says it will be a bit overwhelming if she is actually chosen.
“It’s just a busy time. I am starting university this September, so it would just be icing on the cake,” she said.
Although this fall will not see her competing for the title again, it will challenge Schultz in another regard with her acceptance to the St. Jerome’s University, in partnership with the University of Waterloo. She is registered in honours arts with the hopes of pursuing a fine arts degree.
Schultz was selected as last year’s ambassador after her touching speak about the power of giving back to the community and the value of being a kind neighbour. The experience took her well beyond her comfort zone and exposed her to her own community in a totally new light.
“I have described it to people as one massive experience because, honestly, at the beginning of it I had signed up and said ‘okay, I’ll do this,’ and I was really kind of shy and worried,” she explained of the beginning of her journey. “It was definitely something far, far out of my comfort zone, something I never imagined I would ever do.”
That she was even nominated by others to run for the ambassadorship helped her with decision.
“If these people think I can do this, maybe I should believe them and take a chance,” she explained. “In the last year I have done a lot of new and interesting things and it has really been a great experience – I can say that wholeheartedly.”
She encourages others to take the leap of faith as well and, if given the opportunity to pursue the title, to do so.
“Most people when they think about it see the tiara, they see the sash, they think it is just a silly kind of beauty-type contest, but it is really not at all. It is a really very special learning experience and if you’re handed the experience I would encourage any young person to do it,” she said. “You’ll get to experience new things, you’ll get to try new things. The fair board in Wellesley is a fantastic group of people – they have helped me and they have allowed me to use my skills and strengths on the board and it has been good.”
After enjoying herself for the past year, this latest competition is taking her to new territory again.
The CNE contest has seen more than 3,000 young people from some 100 communities across Ontario compete since its conception in 1976. Comber Agricultural Society’s Amy Natyshak took home the 2016 title competing against more than 70 contestants aged 18 to 25 who represented agri-fairs across Ontario.
“It should be fun,” said Schultz, noting the similarities of her past competition. “Perhaps it is a bit like [the local fair] on steroids.
“There are so many of us that they split them up alphabetically by the name of their ag. group,” she said.
Replacing the visual presentation portion from the Wellesley competition, Schultz submitted a biography at registration to allow the judges to get to know her a bit better.
“And then at the actual competition that everyone sees on the Sunday is when they will separate seven finalists. Those seven do their prepared speech and then from those, they pick their top three who are asked the impromptu questions.”
Schultz says she is prepared for the contest, though she’ll be expecting the unexpected.
“I sure hope I am prepared for it – I am trying very hard to be,” she said. “Life always throws something at you that you’ve never expected though.”
The CNE Ambassador of the Fairs competition is taking place in Toronto August 18-20, with both the semifinals and finals on Sunday in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre at the Ex.