The Miss Teen Bermuda Islands competition is warming up and eleven young ladies are about to strut their stuff for the crown.

The teens range in age from 13 to 17 and they are from a mixture of middle and high schools across the Island.

The 11 hopefuls popped into last Friday to talk about what they hoped to gain from taking part in the annual competition.

CedarBridge Academy students and best friends Alneisha Outerbridge, 14, and Jasamine Dill, 15, entered the pageant together. Miss Outerbridge said: ?I was introduced to the competition through Jasamine after she told me about it.

?He mother had entered the Big and Beautiful competition and I thought that this would be something for me to do during the summer time - I need to find something constructive to.?

Miss Dill said during the Big and Beautiful competition she was backstage helping out. ?So from that experience, I wanted to be in a pageant, because I watched my mother.?

Miss Outerbridge said being a participant in a pageant was always something that she wanted to do. In the past she had signed up for the Talented Teen competition, but for one reason and another did not complete it. But she said: ?I feel more confident now.?

Miss Outerbridge would definitely encourage other youngsters to take part in the competition. ?Everyone has butterflies at first, but it is not just about what everyone thinks,? she said. ?You may not be the best person out there, but if you believe that you are, you will be.

?You need to convey every bit of strength and every bot of talent and bring it to the stage and show everyone that I am Miss Bermuda Islands and that I will win this pageant. ?And even if you don?t win, I mean a lot of people don?t even have guts to sign up. The fact that you are actually going into the pageant is a strength, because not everyone is going to do it, not does everyone have the strength to do it.?

Miss Dill said: If it wasn?t for her (Miss Outerbridge) I would have been out. ?But if you begin to feel down about it, have someone like Alneisha to encourage you.?

Berkeley Institute student Arianne Stirling, 15, got involved after organiser Terry Smith asked her to.

?He has been asking me to take part, but I have been shy and we saw him at Harbour Night on Wednesday and he asked again,? she said.

?I built up my confidence and I talked to my friends and said that we should do it.?

It was not something that she yearned to enter, but she hopes to have a good chance of winning. Asked what she would tell other youngsters she said: ?I would say, from what he (Mr. Smith) has been telling us, it is going to be fun.

?I am learning how to get over my fear of talking in front of other people and of going on stage.?

Devonshire resident Chrishunte Hill, 16, also stumbled into the competition as well.

The Berkeley Institute student hopes that it will afford her additional confidence. ?It is not just about winning,? said Miss Hill. ?It is also about meeting new people, because so far I have met new people and it is about having fun and doing your best.?

Sixteen year old Selita Crockwell of the Bermuda Institute found out about entering at Harbour Nights.

?It is a good experience,? said Miss Crockwell. ?Not many people will have this experience, so have fun and learn how to carry yourself properly.?

Rochelle Marshall, 17, Saint Ursula?s Convent, in Barbados, said she got involved in the pageant after working together with Mr. Smith last year.

?He thought I had the potential to do it and I told him that I would do it eventually and I chose to do it this year.?

So was it something that Miss Marshall was dying to do? ?It something that I always wanted to do, but I never had the courage,? she said. ?When I was young I would model around the house.?

On advice to other young people, she said: ?You gain self-confidence and you get to meet new friends. You will learn lessons that you will carry for the rest of your life.?

Cleopatra Rose, 14, of Spice Valley Middle School, said that while she was at Harbour Nights with her mother, Mr. Smith stopped them. Miss Rose always wanted to model, but did not necessarily want to enter a pageant. ?Mr. Smith said it would better my modelling skills,? she said.

Priscilla Thompson Tavares, who is a CedarBridge Academy student, began thinking about the competition after another family member had entered.

?I thought about it, but I was always a spectator,? said the 15-year-old. ?So I figured I would participate. I think that if you can be a spectator, than you can be a participator.

?For me it is not really about winning, it?s just about entering. It is also a great way to use up your time and it is a very helpful programme. It teaches you etiquette and how to speak.?

Krishunna Archibald, 13, formerly of Spice Valley Middle School, always watches the Tyra Banks Show.

?She is my idol and my inspiration and I want to be just like her,? said Miss Archibald. ?I think that being in a pageant will make me more like her.?

But winning is not the most important thing to Miss Archibald. ?Winning to me is nothing, it is just the opportunities that it provides. I just want the experience.?

Miss Archibald advised that everyone should get involved, as she said: ?You have the opportunity to meet new people, for instance I just met some girls that I didn?t even know.

?You also get to have a meal with the Premier (Alex Scott) and do a lot of things that you never thought of doing. It is also a good chance that in the end you will end up winning ? just for trying.?

Former Spice Valley Middle School student Shuntee Simmons, 13, said she likes to model.

?I think it will help me do better in modelling,? said Miss Simmons. ?I also just want to get involved.? For Miss Simmons, the advise was that it would help young women present themselves better.

Shellicia McKenzie Simons, of CedarBridge Academy, is no stranger to the stage and has taken part in numerous pageants throughout her life.

But she almost did not enter this one because of work commitments. ?I didn?t think that I would have time for this, but he (Mr. Smith) said he would work out a schedule for me,? said Miss McKenzie Simons, who added that she really liked pageants.

?When I was younger I did pageants in Jamaica,? said the 16-year-old. ?I began when I was about six or seven. I also just came off the Hal Jackson?s Talented Teen competition. It was nice, but I wasn?t prepared for it. My mom put me in pageants in the beginning and when I was about ten I began entering myself because I liked them.

?I don?t want to be a model or anything, but it is nice meeting people with a similar interest. I have made a lot of friends through pageants.?

Aside from taking part in pageants, she spends most of her time indoors. ?I have met a lot of new girls by entering this pageant.?

Miss McKenzie Simons, who wants to be a cosmetic surgeon, said this also was a great opportunity to get exposed to a lot of things. ?This has so much to offer, but it is a good opportunity to meet people and it will look good on your resume. You learn how to present yourself.?

@EDITRULE:

The competition takes place on August 13. Tickets for the finals at Secrets Boutique, Mid Ocean Amphitheatre, Fairmont Southampton and for the Talent and Fashion Show August 10. Tickets at Transformations, Walker Arcade.