 2023. Also, as previously highlighted on the Sports Mac Zone, there was a twist to this year's pageant. It included a category specific to males as Kevoi Clark was crowned the first ever Mr. Distinction College. Here to discuss another successful staging of the pageant is Frederine Simpson, Marketing Officer and Oval Jameson, Dean of Student Affairs at the Institute of International Recognized Qualification, IARRQ, which is a partner school of Distinction College. And let's talk about now how the pageant went because I see the champions here. Ricardo will talk to them in a short while. Frederine, let's start with you with your assessment of how things went on pageant night. It was amazing. One of the comments that I got from management is that this is one of the best staging of the pageant and I feel proud of myself and of the contestants. We had a great time. And Orville, as the Dean of Student Affairs, how did you look on to that night? Well, I wasn't there. Oh, you weren't? No, I wasn't. But I was following on the Instagram page because they had feeds that were, they kept on updating everyone. I couldn't be there because I had classes to teach. To teach? Yes. Well, that's understandable. That's understandable. Frederine, why is the pageant such an important part of the distinction college offerings? It is an important aspect of the distinction college offerings because we use the pageant as a stepping stone to help the students. Previously, it used to be to help the females, but now it is used to help everyone to discover their true limits, to discover where they can go, to see their confidence level and to do what they need to do. What were the things about this pageant that made it stand out? Because you just said that it was one of the best ever. How many years would it have been? This is the 9th annual, right, so the 9th annual Miss Distinction, but one of the things that made it stood out was the incorporation of the Mr. Distinction College. So this is our very first stage in and I must say that they did tremendously well. I am super proud of them and we are just on to greater things. Yeah. Usually when you have pageants, because things are so competitive and everyone wants to win, there can be some, I don't want to use the word acrimony, but so far in our hosting of the Distinction College pageants or contestants, I have sense that there is a sort of a good, or some harmony. You know, everyone wants to win, but I get the feeling that there is support for everyone. Everyone wants to win, but they're also supporting each other. So we don't have any days when we say, all right, this person is fighting against this, each other, and I'm the person that is going to win, so I'm the only person that deserves to be here. They show each other that they all deserve to be in that space, and that is one of the things that we love about the contestants. They show for each other, they look out for each other, and it's like they're not even competing against each other. I can say that. I felt that. I felt that, you know, you're seeing how they- And that's absolutely beautiful. Even after the pageant, they still keep in touch, they're still going out. There's something that one of the contestants said to me that I can't really reveal it right now because it's a secret that they're planning to do for one of the other contestants who did not came up in the top six. Orville, I'm interested in the relationship between Distinction College and the IIRQ. Can you explain that for us? Alright, well IIRQ is now an addition to Distinction College. So at IIRQ, we offer the more advanced courses, level one, level two, level three diplomas. So if you have a certificate or a level one certificate, whether it's from heart or from Distinction College, and you want to go further, higher, then you would move over to IIRQ, and that's where you would get the more advanced courses. At IIRQ, what we focus on, we try to focus on employability skills. We focus on the technical side of things. We expect that the candidates there, they are going to be exposed to a wide range of practical applications. I am more favorable to the engineering and construction side of it. So in that area, what we focus on, we ensure that the students know the practical applications as it relates to solving various problems. We try to keep them up to date with today's market, with today's workforce. So we just don't teach them things by the book. We have a relationship with organizations with high schools out there. Our students have to complete what we call community service, that this is where they have to go out and they have to work in an organization for at least 60 hours. That helps us and helps them to build a relationship with the workforce so that they can know exactly what is happening out there. So that when they leave IIRQ, it's not as if they're a small fish in a big pond. They are very much aware of what is out there and are somewhat prepared for the working world. Practically. Practically. Yeah. I remember when I attended Karimak, there would be once your program was completed or getting close to the completion of your program. There would be some assistance with job placement. Do you do the same at distinction college and by extension IIRQ? Yes. Yes. They have a placement center at distinction college. How does it work? Right. At distinction college, we do have a job center that assists all distinction college students. So once you come to distinction college and you successfully complete your program, pass in your final school exam, complete your work experience where that is mandatory, then our UCAS office that is United Career Assessment Services, they assist with job placement both locally and internationally and it's at no cost to the students. Wow. That's amazing. And how long has that been on stream? That has been going on for about two years now. Yeah. So once you complete your course at distinction college, you get a recommendation letter from the institution. You can also get another recommendation letter from your current place of employment, your previous school or even a pastor and you take that along with your resume to UCAS and they assist with job placement. All right. So let's say I'm watching this interview now and I'm excited about the possibility of coming to distinction college, but I'm a little bit broke and you know, it's Christmas time and it's going to be new years. And so I'm thinking, I wonder if they have any discounts that I could get at this stage? Most definitely. And one of the things. Oh, that's lovely. One of the things I love to stress about distinction college is our motto that says providing opportunities for you because at distinction college, we provide an opportunity for each and for everyone. We do have very flexible payment plans as you're probably used to. We have the little, little payment plans. We have the half enough payment plan. So if you want to pay half of the school fee and start, you definitely can do that. And we work out a payment plan for you. Plus we do have promotions going on right now. So if you come to distinction college now and you register for three subjects, you will be getting the fourth one for free. And if you register for five subjects, you will be getting free classes in the sixth and the seventh subjects. Not to mention if you're doing any three to four month programs at distinction college, you will be getting city and girls math and English classes for free. Wow. Yeah, you just mentioned construction and engineering being your main focus. Could you just briefly outline the range of studies offered by distinction college? Well, we start as, we start from the certificate course. Yes. And then after the certificate course, you move up to the level one or two up to the level three diploma. The advanced level diplomas level one to level three. This is where you learn a wide range of practical applications starting from electrical, mechanical fabrication. And it goes on to, as we said, employability skills. So the candidates will actually get exposure to real life engineering principles that exist in the working world. So it's not, and it's not just principles as we would know it in Jamaica. It is international. Yes. Right. So in the construction, it is the same thing as well. We try to provide as much onsite work as possible. And when necessary, well, not when necessary, but it's a part of it. We ask professionals from outside to come in and speak to the candidates. And then we work with an arrangement where the candidates would actually go to those institutions and they will do work as well. Okay. And before Ricardo goes across to talk to the pageant winners, just how varied are your courses again, the different courses offered? At distinction college, we have a number of different programs. We have over 70 professional, vocational, and academic programs. 70. 70. So we have a number of different programs in the healthcare department, practical nursing, pediatric, geriatric, phlebotomy, pharmacy technician, medical assistant, medical lab technician. We have the skill programs. You're going to name all 70? No. We can't. We have the skill programs, electrical insulation, plumbing, motor vehicle. We have customer service, contact center, supervisory project, HR management. We have a number of different programs. I can see that. Plus the CSEC and the cave subjects. Very impressive distinction college chapel. Where Ricardo is going to go across now to talk to our champions who are eagerly awaiting his arrival. You know what, Lance, there is a bit around the entire studio space that I would trip and fall walking over here, but of course that's not going to happen. Amanda Powell, Miss Distinction College, and Kevoi Clark, Miss Distinction College. And the lady that might show you. Let the lady begin first. Congratulations on your win. Brilliant. Can you recall the night of the pageant and what that was like for you? The night of the pageant was a bit nerve-wracking for me because I am not an outgoing person, so I'm a bit shy. So performing was a bit nervous for me once I got through it and I did what I should. Yeah. What was the most exciting part of the pageant for you? The most exciting part of the pageant for me was going, go crafting with the contestants who got to bond. So I like that. Yeah, that sounds amazing. On the night itself, it must have been quite special when you heard your name that you were the winner. First of all, relive the emotions and what it meant to you when your name was called as the winner of Miss Distinction College. I kind of wasn't expecting it and I was at the same point, so I was a bit excited and nervous. What do you think separated you from the other young ladies who are all outstanding young ladies by the way? I think it's the drive to prove to myself that I can step out of my comfort zone to do what I love. You speak about being shy and it's one of the things I love about the Miss Distinction College pageant and I guess the Miss Distinction College pageant know as well that you have a number of young individuals who still have a lot of growing to do. So you speak about you being shy. I want to get an understanding of why you even decided to enter this pageant because you're shy. Shy people don't enter pageants do they? I decided to enter this pageant because I wanted to prove to myself that I can take control of my life to do what I want and I also got motivated by my family and Mr Wilson. Oh amazing, fantastic story. Congratulations. Let's get to the Miss Distinction College now. Kevoie Clark congratulations on being the first ever Miss Distinction College. Yes thank you very much. What was it like? It was amazing the night, the finals night, it was amazing meeting the contestant was a good opportunity to meet new friends and you know have fun. Did you surprise yourself in any way or were you just super confident from the get go? I was confident but not overconfident. What made you so confident? Because I know that I am a well-focused person, I love, I'm talented, I am creative and whatever I put my mind to always stick to it and always be a leader. Yeah because of your musical background and I suspect that a lot of individuals at Distinction College would probably know you as the big artist. How much do you think that helped both in terms of how you were able to deliver and then in terms of the final result? It was a good result like everybody marries the response on the finals night, everybody was cheering for me when I was singing and you know at the school a lot of people saying that Kevoie, I know you are going to dance because you have it, you know what it takes. And just tell us a little bit just for viewers who don't know about your musical background and the type of experience that you have there. Repeat that. About your musical background and the type of experience that you have, tell us a little bit about that. Well my musical background I perform on most stage shows like Rebel Salute, the other day I perform on Get a Splash, looking forward to performing on Sunface next year and you know a lot of interviews like on stage, ER, well ER is the next stop. Yeah and I'm getting a lot of love in my music, like I have a lot of singles out there. Hold you close girl, your mind, let me love you a large more. You can find them on Spotify. All right it sounds good, congratulations again and no surprise that both of you were talent winners on the night as well. I gathered that you pretty much swept everything. We're going to go to a break but we want you to do us one and we want you to do a special performance for the Queen, the Miss Distinction College from the Miss Distinction College to take us out. No pressure. Baby. Now this is what true love really means. I want to hold you close. I want to hold you tight. Yes. Come on now baby. Don't be shy. I want to hold you close. I want to hold you tight. Yes. Come on now baby. Don't be shy. Yes. It's break time.