Perseverance is a Beautiful Thing
After coming close in previous pageants, Ashley Moser (left) and Aureana Tseu persist and win crowns as Miss Hawaii Teen USA and Miss Hawaii USA. Runners-Up Several Times, Aureana Tseu And Ashley Moser Persisted And Finally Won Crowns
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Runners-Up Several Times, Aureana Tseu And Ashley Moser Persisted And Finally Won Crowns
The first American beauty contest was staged in 1854 by showman P.T. Barnum and closed down by public protests. Today, the pageantry of beautiful women is a multimillion-dollar business and is said to symbolize a nation’s virtues and values.
We’ve come a long way, baby. Upholding those standards and the imagery of “the ideal” woman is a lot of pressure to put on beauty titleholders. But it’s a responsibility welcomed by the new Miss Hawaii USA Aureana Tseu and Miss Hawaii Teen USA Ashley Moser.
They liken winning their respective titles to preparing for an Olympic event. For each, it involved years of self-motivation, perseverance and plenty of lipstick.
Both competed last month at a glamorous gala packed with family and supporters at the Sheraton Waikiki ballroom. Pageant directors Takeo and Eric Chandler staged a fast-paced, multifaceted production complete with Broadway music and a long, high-fashion runway.
Thirty-eight contestants dazzled judges and paraded in stylish gowns and swimsuits, embellished by an ever-present smile and inner glow. As each contestant was introduced, she lifted her head to the lights, held her posture erect and walked out to the audience as if to hail “Look out, world, here I am!”
The presentations are worthy of Fashion Week in New York or Paris as each contestant generates spontaneous cheers and encouragement from the audience. It’s an adrenaline rush like no other.
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And that’s just the judges’ reaction!
For 25-year-old Tseu and 17-year-old Moser, this is familiar ground. Both have been in beauty competitions before. For Tseu, it has been a 10-year lapse since her last title as Miss Hawaii Teen USA. For Moser, it was an almost exasperating attempt to break through a pattern of repeated first runner-up titles.
That night, it was different. “I felt good about myself,” says Tseu, who wore a designer polka-dot gown. “I was ready to compete - mentally, physically and spiritually.”
She had tried for the same title the year before, but was named a runner-up.
“It was an eye-opener,” she says. “I learned a lot about myself.”
This inner search for one’s identity and the desire to compete again - and succeed - is part of the training regiment to win beauty titles. It’s no different, they claim, than athletes who are inspired to get up early in the morning and run conditioning sprints to prepare their minds and bodies for a sports event.
For Moser, a Punahou senior, the dream began when watching children’s pageants. She begged her parents to allow her to “be a princess.” Once she was on stage, she knew she belonged there.
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The adoration of supporters, the excitement of competing and being rewarded for being the best appealed to her sense of self. But the top prize always seemed elusive. She was first runner-up in the baby pageant and the Miss Teen World contest.
“This one felt right,” Moser says of her latest competition. And she felt beautiful in a fitted Sue Wong black-lace-over-taupe, full-length gown.
“We got it on sale,” Moser gushes.
On the night of the pageant, her parents, Kendall Moser and Sandra Sagisi Moser of Hawaii Kai, stood at their front-row seats stunned in disbelief and relief as their daughter took the long walk down the runway as Miss Hawaii Teen USA. She had the sash, crown and bouquet. This time, Ashley made it to the top.
The phenomenon seems aligned with the breakthrough year of her alma mater. From being named best high school sports program in the country to winning the state football championship to an alumnus being elected president of the United States, it is a banner year for Punahou.
Yet an air of expectation, or lack
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