 ThinkTek Hawaii, civil engagement lives here. And bienvenidos to Hispanic Hawaii and Richard Concepcion hosting with Ana Jiménez MacMellon. Today's program is about Miss Latina Hawaii. This organization provides leadership and mentorship to many young ladies within the community and also provide the opportunity for them to represent the Latin community. This program had two different setbacks. We're going to start with Miss Latina Hawaii 2019, Noel Balada, and then we're going to have in part two Miss Aloha Latina and Miss Paradise. Noel, bienvenida, welcome to the program. Thank you so much for having me. Alright, let's start the program by asking you quick questions, reference about yourself, tell me about your family, and about your heritage. Well, I am 21 years old. I'm a senior at the University of Hawaii majoring in piano performance and minoring in business. I was going to double major, but now I'm majoring and minoring. And my family, my mom's side is all Japanese and they live in Japan. And then my dad's side, we're Filipino and Spanish. So that's how I got to join this Latin pageant. Wow, that's beautiful what it makes, right? That makes you so very beautiful, Noel Balada. So you entered Miss Aloha Latina in 2017 and you won there. What made you decide to join that competition, or this one now, and what is different from a couple years ago until now? So I was only 19 when I won the title of Miss Paradise Latina in 2017. But this year I was able to get the title of Miss Latina Hawaii and between competing two years ago and competing this past month, I think that the main difference was that I was able to be more of myself and be true to who I am and what I believe in. Well, let's talk about your preparation. Tell me, you know, you had like two year break. How do you keep yourself in such a good shape but tell me everything that you was doing to maintain yourself in the shape, you know? Well, the two year break, it was kind of a break for me to kind of gather myself and try to figure out who I am and where I stand in this world and what I really want to do, the path in life I want to take. And so that has all helped me to become more true in this competition. What about the gene? You didn't go to the gene and work out anything? You didn't change the way you eat, nothing at all. I go to the beach with my dog. Okay, that's part of it. Yeah, it's just keeping up with current events as usual. Speaking at different events in schools also kind of helped me prepare with the social impact statement of mice, which is music and childhood education. And also my talent, that kind of was inspired by when I performed or I was actually the rehearsal pianist for the... Yeah, and it took about that time because I seen some picture you and you age, you know, playing piano. Yeah. Yeah, I researched the internet. Tell us about your talent. So I actually got the honor to play at Carnegie Hall twice. So once when I was 16 in high school and won this last year, two years ago when I was 20 in college and so the two years playing there was just incredible. It's an opportunity not many people older than me get to have. And so this past few weeks before the competition, I was actually the rehearsal practice pianist for the Hawaii Youth Symphony Orchestra where I got to play my talent in full with the whole orchestra backing me up. And it was so incredible to be working with the young kids and the new director to be able to play through that glorious last movement of that concerto with the orchestra. And so that kind of inspired me to take a 90-second chunk out of the nine-minute piece to perform at the Miss Latina Hawaii pageant. Don't forget to send me an invitation the next time you want to perform. Definitely. Tell us more about your platform, your social impact on what you say is the music in childhood education. How did you decide to pick that? So music has always been a lifelong passion of mine. So I started piano when I was five and when I moved over to the famed Ellen Masaki and when I was 11, she really kind of pushed me to pursue music as a career and as a future. And when she passed away in 2009, I kind of made it my own personal goal to continue her legacy by bringing beautiful music to everyone who enjoys it but also to pass down everything I've learned from her to keep her knowledge alive. And so right now I'm a teacher at her school, the Masaki School of Music, and I teach over 30 kids every week. So I get to work with the kids and so that kind of inspired me to start this social impact, MICE, which stands for Music in Childhood Education. And through this platform, Social Impact, I was able to actually reach out to a good friend of mine, Jake Shimabukuro, and we partnered together and we also partnered with Music for Life Foundation and we did a couple school visits last year. So we visited Kalikikae Elementary, Hokulani Elementary, and one more. I can't think off the top of my head, but we got to play. CBC, right? Yeah, play for the kids. We were also impressed with Jake's incredible glada playing and we got to really talk to the kids about why music is so important in your development as a young child. Do you think the university in general, the government, you put more money into the school and university to implement more music into the child education? Definitely, definitely. So speaking to the Department of Education actually, music programs and art programs are the first to go when they have budget cuts. That is true because they just call everything. Music and arts are the first programs to go when we have budget cuts and music programs are so important, you know, we always say that physical education is like physically exercising your body but music is like mentally exercising your brain and that's why I really, really strongly suggest and push for music education in schools. So Noe, so music therapy is a discipline that people actually go to school for and they use it to help people with mental issues and other things. What have you noticed with the kids? There's 30 of them, which is a lot, good for you. What have you noticed in their development with this music program platform you're doing? So music in general really helps a child not only develop mentally with their cognitive skills, their behavioral skills, it's putting together the right and the left brain, having them work together because, you know, your right side of your body works your left brain and your left side of your body works your right brain. So having those two sides work together really allows a child to become more open-minded, more well-rounded also and it also teaches them discipline. You know, having the students practice a certain amount of minutes every single day making sure all their homework assignments are done and it's just really awesome to see all these kids not only be excited about music but to actually really learn and grow and progress. So it's really fun watching this. I can see that. You get so excited talking about this. I love my space. Yeah, very close and near to your heart. But let's talk about the different categories when you go through the competition. Talk to me through those different categories. So the Miss America organization has changed. So it's now called the Miss America 2.0 and so there is a private interview still and so instead of evening gown, you have an onstage social impact statement where you walk in your evening gown for like 10 short seconds you say a statement that really represents what your social impact is all about. And so that was just 10 seconds of short fun and then the other category is the onstage interview. So this was usually actually in your evening gown but now it's in your interview outfit and they ask you just anything that comes up from your personal interview and then there also is the big talent. Yeah, the talent. I did win the talent. Yes, thank you. I was very honored too. You won the social impact talent. I also did win the social impact statement flash evening gown award. My goodness. How do you do it? So you were nervous when you was doing the interview on the stage? Do you remember the question? I actually do. The coulou actually asked me the question if you could be a grain of sand or a clam or a pearl which would you choose and why? And so I actually chose the grain of sand because as a grain of sand you know you're still developing and trying to develop into that beautiful pearl and you're still growing although you've come so far to where you were and who you were, it's just all about always growing to be a better version of who you were yesterday. That's true, you never stop at any stage in your life. It's always continuing to grow exactly. So out of all those different categories which one had the most challenge to you and which one you liked the most? Well of course talent was my favorite. I absolutely loved performing, being able to share my passion for my craft and it's always such a fun thing to be able to share this side of me to different audiences because the classical music world is a little limited and so not many people get a chance to really hear it live. So it was really awesome trying to bring part of me to that different audience. And then I'd say the heart. The one that you liked the most was that one but which one you had challenging? I think the most challenging one was definitely the interview. It's so hard to really get yourself in nine and a half minutes to show the judges who you are, what makes you why you are here, the different stories that you have. It's a little difficult for me personally to really be able to showcase all sides of me in nine and a half minutes. So what is the difference between the one on the stage and the private one? The private one is ten minutes, nine and a half minutes of just questions being asked to you by the judges, getting to know you and then thirty seconds of just closing. And then the on stage interview is actually a question from the judge who asked you the first question in the interview and it's really just a question that came upon from your personal interview. Wow, so we got some pictures where I get to do the interview. So do you get really nervous? You're just looking at people at the stage and trying to figure out how you're going to answer the question. Or do you rehearse a lot? I do rehearse a lot. I think it's because of my experience as a pianist and being able to perform in front of hundreds and thousands of people has really helped me to cut back on my nerves. It still is a nerve-wracking experience, trying to answer such a difficult question in thirty seconds, so you have five seconds to think of it and then maybe fifteen or twenty seconds to convey it to the audience. And it sounds like you're doing a wonderful job. And nerves actually are good. They say sometimes if you don't have some nerves, that's where you might have some, you know, flop up or whatever and have some issues. So it's good to have a little bit of nerves. Yes, definitely, for sure. So let's talk about any advice and recommendation that you're willing to give any young lady who's watching this program who maybe want to be the next Miss Latina Hawaii or Miss Aloha or Miss Paradise. Well, definitely to be true to who you are. And I would definitely recommend this amazing program to any young girl out there. There is a teen program and there is the Miss program up to age 25, I believe. And it's an incredible organization that gives scholarships as well. So having run this past year and two years ago and actually before I was able to garner that Miss Paradise Latina title, I won second runner-up and first runner-up. So being able to accumulate all those scholarships, it is ten thousand dollars a cram. So being able to gather about $35,000 in scholarship will really help me towards obtaining my future goal after I graduate with a Masters in Business Administration at Argus University. Wow, that is so great. I'm glad you're taking it to good use. Thank you. Very happy for you. So what is the future for you? What's next after this? So definitely after I graduate, I would love to get my Masters in Business Administration. Ever since I started teaching at the school, I've been getting more involved in their events with the school. And so we actually just had our big Christmas program that I was able to direct. So it was over 120 piano kids that I got to direct and manage all the rehearsals and then the string kids. So it was a total of over 150 students in our Christmas program. And the house was full and it was just managing not only the rehearsals but conducting the kids, getting the kids to play together, even organizing the stage, stage hand, stage hand slash conductor. That's a lot of work, my goodness. So it sounds like you have some information to put in your essay when you apply for your MBA. Very good. Well, are you going to participate on the Miss Hawaii Miss Year? Yes, so all three titles, the Miss Latina Hawaii, Miss Aloha Latina and Miss Paradise Latina will go straight to the Miss Hawaii America competition. There is no date yet, but it will be sometime in June. It's coming up. Yeah, sometime next year in June at the beautiful historic Hawaii Theater in downtown. So the winner of that competition, the Miss Hawaii, will go straight to Miss America. So that's a big competition. That's a lot of work. You got to prepare for all these things coming up. Yeah. Oh, you never steal, you know. Yeah, it's just nonstop. It's always just trying to be a better version of who you were yesterday and it's never ending. Okay, are we about to go into break? Any final thoughts? Well, no, just thank you for having me and it's been so awesome trying to be able to speak about my social impact mice and really getting to tell people how important music is and being able to talk story with you about what I really love to do. So thank you so much for having me. All right, thank you so much for coming. So we are about to take a quick break and when we come back, we're going to have Miss Aloha Hawaii and Miss Paradise Latina. So don't go away. Stay with us. Hello, everyone. This is Yukari Kunisei, the host of the Japanese broadcast of Hello, Hawaii. We are broadcasting from 2 p.m. on Monday. We are broadcasting from the Japanese community, the Hawaii's Japanese community, and we are broadcasting from the program where we can provide useful information, news, and so on. Hello, everyone. This is Yukari Kunisei, the host of the Japanese broadcast of Hello, Hawaii. I'm Jay Fiedel, Think Tech. Think Tech loves energy. I'm the host of Mina, Marco, and Me, which is Mina Morita, former chair of the PUC, former legislator, and Energy Dynamics, a consulting organization in energy. Marco Mangostorf is the CEO of Provision Solar in Hilo. Every two weeks, we talk about energy, everything about energy. Come around and watch us. See you in the afternoon and Mondays, every two weeks on Think Tech. Aloha. Welcome back to Hispanic Hawaii. Now, we have Miss Aloha Latina, Tani de la Torres, and we have Miss Paradise Latina, Leiccia Batum. Welcome to the program. Thank you for having us. Thank you for having us. I got to memorize the names. Okay, perfect. So, Miss Aloha, Tani de la Torres, tell us about your background and your family. Well, I'm 19 years old, currently graduated from Milani High School, and I'm half Mexican from my father, and quarter Puerto Rican, Hawaiian and Portuguese. So, I'm very blessed to have two Spanish, inter-Hispanic backgrounds. Very grateful for that. Wow, and it shows. And, Alexia Batum, tell us about your background and your family. I am 17 years old, a senior currently at Moanalua High School. I am Filipino, Chinese, Caucasian and Mexican. Wow, beautiful contestants. Beautiful, thank you for coming. Thank you. Gracias por venir. I want to ask you about the same question that I was asking to Miss Latina Hawaii. I want to know about those different categories, which one was the most challenging to you and which one you like the most, Miss Aloha Latina? I would have to say my favorite category that I face with would have to be talent, hands down, because singing to me is more than something I do. It's been more so of a passion, and I've been raised in a family with entertainers professionally. So, growing around that environment was not necessarily a choice. It was something that I really was pushed to the limits to do. And I would say that my most difficult challenge would have to be interview, because it's very difficult for me to phrase my sentences and to be more professional, so that was definitely a challenge I think I've overcame. Hopefully, at least a part of that. I enjoyed the whole experience, honestly. Everything was fine. During this pageant, even during the prep time, I've really grown, so I'm thankful for that, but the most challenging part was the on-stage interview, because you're so limited on time and you just have to think in the moment what you want to answer and how you're going to say it really matters to you. So, tell us, Miss Aloha, about your platform. My social platform is called Enough Is Enough, which is based on helping children living in domestic violent homes. And the reason why I chose to do that is because I myself lived through that environment, and I've grown so much from it and to even call myself a title holder is just an honor. So what I'm trying to do is to bring awareness to children and parents and give them hope that life will get better. And your platform? My platform is called In Depth, which stands for Depression Education for Parents and Teen Health. I started, or I was inspired because I personally experienced depression and it's so common in high school. Like, I've seen it happen to a lot of my peers, so I thought that we should really speak up about it even though there's a stigma on it. So how are you going to implement that plan to help, you know, people to cope with depression? Is there any specific way that you're going to try to help the community with your platform? Yes, so right now I've started an active mind chapter at my high school, which solely is for educating the rest of the school about teen depression, symptoms, available resources, or ways that they can overcome it on their own, and using the peers to really feel more comfortable and open about it. I'd also, well, I'm working on starting the chapter at other high schools as well, and I plan on doing public talks through the library system. And what about the parents? How can the parents identify if the teenagers are going to depression? As of right now, I have platforms on Facebook and Instagram because I know a lot of parents use social media. Yeah, we all do. I'll do too. For now, I have to plan more how I'm going to reach out more to the parents directly. Miss Aloha Latina, let's talk about more about domestic violence. Domestic violence show in many different forms. Sometimes we're not aware that it could be financially. How are you going to implement this domestic violence awareness within the community? So first off, I would go to elementary schools or any schools and bring together volunteers or anyone who would like to give back to the community, and we would go together and form groups of children who have been directly affected by domestic violence, either emotionally, mentally, financially, or physically. And we're just going to try and do hands-on activities. So by reaching the age range, it would mostly be fun activities for them to get their minds off of it to kind of distract them from reality. And the second thing I would do would be making brochures, giving information on what it is about and how we, as a community, could come together to prevent this and stop this and help the children in any way we can. I think these are very, very world-wide pursuits and they're very delicate subjects, actually. The social impact they affect and public health-wise. So I'm glad that you're taking these on. Not personally. I've been a former therapist with children. So what's your take on what you've seen so far with children and any experience you may have heard them say about depression? I actually hear a lot of adults try to cancel out how they feel so that makes them feel like they can't share how they feel because they're weak or they're supposed to be stronger. I don't know what it is with not having emotions, but a lot of students feel like they shouldn't have to show their emotions. That's significant that you saw that and that they've shared that with you. And same thing with Miss Aloha Domestic Violence has many different forms, right? Absolutely. It's not just physical, it's the verbal and also restriction, so to speak. So what's some things that you've noticed or changes? I've noticed that as children living through those times they don't really understand that it's happening because as a child you're so growing up still trying to understand what the world is. So most people would not really recognize it because a child cannot really have their own voice to pretty much opinionize it. So it's pretty difficult to really reach out and see if they're actually going through it. I want to ask you a reference about more in detail about your talent. So what song did you sing during the competition? I sang Vivir Mi Vida by Mark Anthony. Mark Anthony, that's your favorite singer? I would say he would be one of my favorite singers. Him as a vocalist is very inspiring to me. I really love the way he sings. But I changed it up to a more acoustic, very slow version which is performed by Jennifer Lopez. So it was very interesting to see her make acoustic version of her late husband, her ex-husband's song, which is very interesting to me. It's beautiful. What about you? I see you were playing the guitar, right? Yes, I did. Who painted all that color on it? You yourself? It's actually a friend of mine. Oh, perfect. I thought it would bring a lot of character to my presentation. So tell me more about what you were singing. I sang The Climb by Miley Cyrus just because I thought that it really related back to my social impact and when teens or people in general when they experience depression they often lean towards music. So you won an award for social media? Yes, I did. Tell me more, how do you do that? I just have the best support group. And connect to people? Yes. What about you, award? I believe I was awarded the Miss Popular Award. Yes, it was due to me selling over 70 tickets when the minimum was to sell around 25. So I just thank my friends and family for buying all the tickets and just supporting me. So that was a really big help. Great. I want to know what is your future plans? You know, because after this I know you got to continue working in your platform and we invited you to come back to the program maybe six months, seven months from now to see where you are, where your platform. But I want to know more about what are you planning in the future after Miss Aloha and Miss Paradise? Anyone? Well, after this, if I do miss, when Miss Hawaii, I would go straight onto the Miss America organization. But if I don't, I will go straight into the United States Air Force. And while being enlisted in there, I would like to achieve to get my RN degree. So that's my future career. That's my dream career. Miss Paradise. Of course, I'll be competing for Miss Hawaii as well. Educational-wise, I am planning on going to Northern Idaho College to play softball and complete my prereqs and eventually transfer to Colorado State to finish my bachelor's in neuroscience. All right, we very short on time. Any final thoughts, any recommendation to any young lady that is watching the program? Miss Aloha. I would just like to tell everyone to just try your best, honestly, and be yourself and never doubt yourself because when you do, that's when you limit yourself to opportunities. Me myself, I really never thought running in a pageant, let alone my first time running in a pageant, that I won an award or I won a title. And it's just very shocking to me. I agree with Tony. We really grew not only as pageant sisters but as individuals. So before this, I really bad at public speaking. I was shy. I wouldn't have sang in front of so many people. Although I love to sing. I would just say follow your dreams because I've always wanted to be in a pageant since I was younger. And now I'm living my dreams. That's perfect. Great. It's wonderful. Ana? Yes. I think you guys did a wonderful job and you each won an all three won award within the pageant of itself too. So we know you put your best foot forward and we also want to say good luck to all three of you to one of them wins Miss Hawaii. Thank you. Thank you. We want to say you an inspiration. I want to say thank you so much for coming to the program. Don't forget you can return. We can talk about more about your platform in the future. Of course. Thank you for having us. Thank you so much. Well, we want to say thank you for watching Think Tech Hispanic Hawaii. And don't forget, you can watch many other programs within Think Tech Hawaii. Thank you. Aloha y gracias.