 Instinct Tech Hawaii. Community matters here. Aloha and bienvenidos to his party Hawaii and Richard Concepcion. Today's program is about Miss Latina Hawaii. This organization provides a scholarship to many young ladies and gives them the opportunity to represent the Latin community. Today's guest is Sherlyn Mojica-Farias. She is the current Miss Latina Hawaii 2018 and she's here to tell about her story, about her own personal experience throughout the competition, her platform, what you're doing for the community, and also her future plan. Bienvenida, welcome to his party Hawaii. Thank you so much for having me today. Hello. All right. Aloha. Aloha. Well, I want to say congratulations, job well done. I was there through the competition from the beginning to the end and it was a wonderful program. Thank you so much. It was so much fun. Yes. Well, a lot of people within the community want to get to know you. Yes, of course. So, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, your family, and your heritage? Yes, of course. So, my name is actually really long. It's Sherlyn Milagro Cuipo Cavalejua Mojica-Farias trying to be elementary learning. Milagro. How do you say the rest? Cuipo Cavalejua Mojica-Farias. Okay, I'm sorry. Yeah. Trying to be elementary student, trying to learn all those letters in your name, it was very difficult. And I'm 18 years old and I graduated from Kalani High School Class of 2017 and I'm a chop-sweet mix. I have Puerto Rican, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Filipino, Chinese, Caucasian and it's all the best of all those worlds. Oh my gosh. Tell me a little bit about your family. Yes. So, my mother's side of the family is Puerto Rican, Filipino, and then my father's side is the rest, the Hawaiian, Caucasian, Portuguese, everything else. Yeah, and both my families are very wonderful. They continue to support me and I really appreciate it. And they're always so much fun. We all, both sides love celebration. It's always amazing food and dancing and songs and it's always a lot of fun to be with them. I can see that. When you was going through the competition, I can hear everybody just screaming. I knew it was your family. That was my family right there in the front row. All right, so when you found out about this scholarship pageant, what motivated you to enter in this competition? Okay, I'm going to be honest. When I first heard about it, I doubted my ability to even join a pageant and to win one. And now I look back at it, I will do it all over again because it was such an amazing opportunity. And when I did get back to one of the board members of Miss Latina Hawaii, I told I was interested because a lot of the pros was way more than the cons of joining this amazing pageant. And I look back at it and I'm so glad I got back to her because I motivated myself to challenge myself and to get out there and to do something for our community. But you know, take a lot of preparation and dedication. And many young ladies, they might want to participate sometime this year. They might want to know, you know, what do you do to get prepared for that? Can you tell me about your training and your preparation for the competition? Yes, of course. So we do this fun thing called mock interviews. It trains us for the actual interview with the judge panel. And what you do is you basically let the judges know about yourself and who you are, what makes you you. And then we also done some walking practices, which I very, I enjoyed the most because I never could walk in heels before this. But look at me in six inch heels, I can do it now. And we also did a lot of physical training and it was a lot of fun. It was a great experience. All right. So don't be intimidated, right? Just come in and do it. Yeah, just come in and do it because you can do whatever you put your mind to. All right. You competed five different categories. Yes. One was lifestyle, swimwear, the tally. You had an evening wear, the private interview and the stage interview. Want to know which you went out of all those different categories was the most challenging to you and which one you liked the most and why? Okay. I believe that most challenging would be the on-stage question. I mean, at the top of your head, you have to come up with an amazing answer to answer the question, but also let the audience know who you are because the judges do get to know you, but the audience doesn't really get an interview with you. So this is the audience's chance to get to know who you are and what makes you you. And I think my favorite would definitely be the talent because it's your way to show everyone your strength and how like you're passionate, what you're passionate about. And I enjoy showing everyone my talent and yeah, that's my favorite answer. Well, let me ask you when they was asking you, do you still remember that question on the stage question? Yes, it was whether or not I felt that social media was a positive or negative impact. Yeah. I do. A lot of people get nervous and they can't remember anything. Oh, I remember. All right. So tell me, do you still remember your answer? I believe I do. My answer was I believe it was a negative impact because it takes away our value of spending time with our family and doing our hobbies and experiencing all of our memories with our family. That is true. Yeah, you're right. But you do dance, right? You're a dancer and you do different type of dance. Yes, I do. Can you tell me something about those different dance that you do? Yes. So at a young age, I started to learn Hulu when you come from a family of Hulu dancers, you kind of just go into it at a young age. And I've also danced, of course, Tahitian, which is my talent. And as I got more into my Polynesian culture, I joined Polynesian clubs at school where I got to learn Tongan, someone, and then I got my job at the Sarapan Lulu, which I've learned Maori, Hakka, and Pueba. Oh, wow. Yes. Yes. And they're all so beautiful. All right. We're going to show you a video or you perform a new talent during the day of the competition. Oh, yes. Exciting. Okay. Perfect. Let's watch it. Okay. All right. So how many hours does it take for you to be able to do a Tahitian dance? I believe that anyone can do it, to be honest. That particular dance I made myself. And I believe I made it within two weeks. Of course, after that, you continue to critique it and everything. But I believe everyone can do it, to be honest. So that's why it was the best part of the category, the competition. Yes. Yes. It's my way to show my strength, which is being an entertainer. All right. Let's see if we can push a picture. When you were showing, you know, when you're somewhere and I'm showing you different clothes, you know, can we put a picture please? Now, we can talk about it real quick. Because in the competition, here it is. It's showing a different category. You have the evening wear and then we show you that you're doing Tahitian dance, which is a part of the talent and also you with the swimwear. And in the beginning, you had this special dance. It's called the Dance of Miss Latina. And tell me about that clothes that you was wearing. Yes, of course. So I basically wanted to make my own costume for this intro, because I thought it would be more like, more special to me. And when I went online to go see like different styles, I caught this picture of these people dancing. And it was so beautiful to me to have this skirt. It was high waisted with the flower on the side and the big flowers. We love our flowers. I had to put that in there. Well, you look great. It was perfect, perfect, perfect. Well, let me ask you, and I want to push this picture right here, because when you was going through the competition, we had Miss Latina Hawaii, which is one of the titles, and they have Miss Paradise Latina. And the NC calling for the first title, which was Miss Paradise Latina, and the winner, Stephanie Johnson, she was not able to be here with us. But in the picture, I seen you looking over her shoulder, you know, she's winning that title. What was going through your mind at that given time? I was honestly so proud of her. I mean, she has worked so hard. And it's not easy to do a pageant. And she did it with her all. And I believe that she deserved it because she is genuinely beautiful. And she really worked hard for that title. And she got it. She was kind of scared, like, well, it's only one title left. One title left, yeah. So many ladies, are you on the stage? You was losing any hopes? Honestly, I trusted that whoever was going to be the next Miss Latina Hawaii would be a great title holder. And I wasn't very scared of not being called because I would be proud of whoever it would be. But I was very excited to hopefully hear my name because you worked really hard for something like this. That's true. Well, we're going to show a quick video with the NC, which is my legal he finally called for the new Miss Latina Hawaii 2008. Okay. And then we can talk about it. Okay. I can hear your whole time farming, screaming. Oh, yes, that support system is amazing. So what was going through your mind at that given time when you was waiting and waiting and he finally called your name? All I could do was cry because I was just so proud of myself. And you know, everything that I've been through in my life, I've been through so much struggles and complications. And to know that I've come this far and that I've won something of such value, it was so important to me. And all I could do was just cry out of joy because I was so proud of myself and how far I've come. And that was your first competition? That was my first competition, which made it even more special to me. Oh, God, that's great. Yeah. All right, but we are about to take a quick break. Okay. And a great message to the community. And then we're going to come back and continue talking story. Okay, perfect. Okay. All the better to see you with my gear. What are you doing? Okay. Research says reading from birth accelerates the baby's brain development. And you're doing that now? Oh, yeah. This is the starting line. Push. This is over. Read aloud 15 minutes, every child, every parent, every day. Hello, everyone. I'm DeSoto Brown, the co-host of Human Humane Architecture, which is seen on Think Tech, Hawaii every other Tuesday at 4 p.m. And with the show's host, Martin Desbang, we discuss architecture here in the Hawaiian Islands and how it not only affects the way we live, but other aspects of our life, not only here in Hawaii, but internationally as well. So join us for Human Humane Architecture every other Tuesday at 4 p.m. on Think Tech, Hawaii. Welcome back to Manning, Hawaii. I'm here with the Miss Latina Hawaii 2018, Charlie Mojica-Farious, talking story. Thank you. All right. Now that you represent the Latin community, tell me some of your responsibilities. Yes. So some of my responsibilities are obviously getting involved in the Latin community. And one thing that we have done this beginning of January actually was this jam for Puerto Rico. It was amazing to see everyone come together and have fun, enjoy themselves, but then again raise money for our families in Puerto Rico. And we also do the single-day mile, of course, and the Hispanic festival, which is in October every year. And this Friday, actually, I'm going to Waipahu High School to do a presentation about being a Latina woman in Hawaii to the Spanish Honor Society. You also participated in the Marlott King Parade. Yes. Tell me about that. That was amazing to just see all the support that everyone has for the parade and to see everyone come together and make it happen. It was wonderful to be part of it. Wow. Well, I know you run for the Miss Latina Hawaii and you won the competition. You had to present a platform. Tell me about your platform. Yes, of course. So my platform is Care for Youth. Care is an acronym for community actions, raising encouragement. And when I had to think about a platform, the first thing that came to my mind was obviously homelessness. Because I've been a part of helping the homeless community since I was a young girl. And of course, I wanted to make that a huge level for me to talk about within my community because it really touches my heart when I get to go out there and change the lives of people, you know. And I've actually went towards helping the youth in particular because I thought, why not try and break the cycle once and for all? And I believe by breaking the cycle would be through the families and through the children. Because a lot of times, the cycle keeps going on to where a family is homeless and then the children become an unbreakable cycle, which is why I want to break it. And that's why I went on to making these care bags. I started years back actually as care packages, but I made them care bags now for the children who can reuse these bags and hopefully go to school with them. And in these bags, I put necessities, hygiene products and school supplies, of course, so that these children, you know, we can at least alleviate some of their issues that they have on their daily lives. And they can continue to just be children and to look forward to their goals and their ambition. And I also do a penny count with Project Hawaii. They have allowed me to go out and be a coordinator with schools to go and ask people to just give a single penny because it really goes a long way. One penny at a time. And it's amazing because what they do is they take these pennies and they use that money to buy necessities for our poverty-stricken or homeless children in Hawaii. And it's amazing I feel to do this campaign because I'm going into schools and I'm getting the youth themselves involved in helping their peers. And it's amazing, yeah. So you become an example for them to follow. Yes, exactly. Oh my goodness, that's a lot of work. A lot of work. So you say you work with an organization. What is the name of that organization once again? Project Hawaii. Project Hawaii. Yeah. And they concentrate on helping other homeless kids in Hawaii. Yes, homeless and poverty-stricken children. And they only do it right here in Hawaii or they do a different island in Hawaii? No, actually you can go on their website, Project Hawaii, and you can go and donate however much you would like to and it really stays in the city of Hawaii and it just helps all of our Kiki who have been through all these struggles. Do you have any other organization that you're working with? Well now it's just Project Hawaii, but also I'm going to distribute my care bags to different shelters. And right now I'm looking at Next Step Shelters to go and distribute my care bags to all the children who they are helping at the time. But you also work with the Children's American Network, right? Yes, that is our national platform. Yeah, tell me about that. Yes, of course. So being a part of the American, I mean excuse me, the American organization, we have this national platform which is Children's American Network. It's where everyone just pretty much donates a dollar at a time and is given to the sickly children and it's also given to medical research and it's an amazing way to get the community involved who want to help. And it is just an amazing organization to be a part of. So if you want any business or any person to help you out, we care how they can do that? Yes, so on all my social medias I have links to Children's American Network where you can go and donate if you would like to and also I have a care for youth page on Facebook where you can keep up to date with everything that we do or donate if you would like to or just keep in touch with everything, all our projects and everything. I just want to know how you're going to be able to accomplish all this because you work, you're going to support, you know, with your platform, you know they're homeless in Hawaii, kids are homeless in Hawaii and also you're going to help the Children's American Network. Are you going to manage all this? Honestly, it's a lot but it is going to be worth it. I know it and it's all time management. I have this huge planner of mine and I have a whiteboard in my room. I just love to time manage myself and just drop things down and check things off as I do them and I believe time management is the key. I want to know a little bit more about your job. What do you do every day? Yes, I'm an entertainer on the Star of Honolulu, Denehu's boat which is at Aloha Tower and I'm a performer there. Our entertainer is more like it and we basically just dance our heart out every night, every single night on the boat. It's not as scary or it's not as shaky, I promise. And it's just beautiful, you know, to show our culture and share our culture with tourists or anyone from around the world to meet new people and to get to hear about their experiences and everything that they've been through. It's a lot of fun. I want to know what your parents think right now. Wow, she is the current Miss Latina Y 2018. Are they still in shock or are they kind of like finally they realize okay she is the winner of what we had to support her and do all these great things that she had to do? Yes, of course. So my parents are so proud of me because they know that you know everything that I've been through in my life it has done its hardest to put me down and to bring me back but I just continue to push forward. It's my motivation. You know everything I've been through it may have been negative at the time but now I look at it as a positive because now I can use that as my motivation to push forward and to challenge myself all the time and I think that my parents are very proud of how far I've come and I think they are realizing that I'm finally a winner but take a while, right? Yes, she is the winner. Yes, but of course for every family I feel like you will always feel that your girl is the winner no matter what you know. That's true. So let's talk about your future plans. Yes, so after this after Miss Latina Hawaii we are going on to Miss Hawaii which is a part of the Miss American Organization excuse me and I honestly want to go to Miss Hawaii and I want to share my platform and I want to hopefully go to Miss America and share it nationwide because it is not only something that is happening here in Hawaii it is happening all around the world and I want to make that difference and I want to get more people involved in our projects and later on I would definitely want to become a neonatal nurse. It's been a dream of mine for a very long time and witnessing a lot of premature babies in my family has driven me to want to help those babies that go into NICU and hopefully save their lives. So that's part of your scholarship program you'll be able to go back to school, right? Yes, all the scholarships I can definitely go to school and pursue my career ambition. That is great, that is wonderful. I want to know a little bit more about more in detail you know about the competition you know what would you tell your lady who want to be part of this competition or want to enter this year what are your recommendations? I would honestly encourage everyone to do it. I mean it's almost a lifetime thing and it is an amazing experience. I've learned so much about myself and as I said I doubted my ability to win a you know win a pageant and here I am and I believe if you put your mind to it you can definitely accomplish anything and you honestly are given so much opportunities that you may not have get anywhere else and I say go for it take that risk challenge yourself because I rather you say you tried your hardest or you did that rather than I wish I did you know it's it's amazing to go through all this and I encourage everyone to do it. When I was watching the program Maleko the NC said that something that you wanted to do is to interview the President of United States. Tell me about that, why? Okay so if I ever get the opportunity I would definitely go write a lot of questions down of course because I won't have so much things I mean I really want to understand his morals his values his reasons for I mean everyone has a reason for everything that they do you know and I feel maybe we're not giving him a chance to express himself or maybe we're giving him too much of a chance to express himself and I honestly just want to know you know what drove him to be a president at first and what he really thinks making America great again is to him because I feel like we all have different meanings of that and I definitely want to know get to know him and his reasons for everything that he's doing. What are your opinion about the immigration? What are your opinion about this immigration law? Oh I honestly think that America is an amazing country you know you're given freedoms you're given opportunities and people come here and they've been coming here for years you know and I feel like trying to send them back is just it's horrible I mean they're here they're obviously they're if they're not doing anything wrong I mean there's no reason to send them back I mean they're taxpayers probably and they come and they give to our community they work they're part of who we are and I feel like sending them away is not a great thing to do when they're all they've done is trying to get a better life for themselves. That is true. Well any final thoughts? I want to thank you for having me and of course everyone out there I just want to tell you to go for go for everything that you ever want to do because if you are given so many opportunities in your life and I say go for it challenge yourself and be the best that you can be. Once again I want to say congratulations thank you to comment to Hispanic Hawaii and tell you story about how you become the Miss Latina Hawaii. All right I want to say thank you so much for watching Hispanic Hawaii don't forget you can rewatch this program at themetechhawai.com and many of the programs. Aloha, gracias, hasta luego. Thank you so much.