YVONNE PASSI

Growing up in Dandan, Yvonne Passi was your typical tomboy, playing with boys her age and beating them at their own game.

Young Yvonne went through all the prerequisite tomboy stuff—climbing trees, playing in the dirt to her hearts’ content and taking part in the most American of all sports: Baseball.

“I just loved baseball,” Yvonne said as she proclaimed her then undying love for the hardball classic in her youth.

Yvonne, however, has since outgrown her tomboyish ways and, through the years, has acted more ladylike, and what could be more ladylike than becoming a beauty queen? She ably demonstrated this last Saturday when she was crowned the 2005 Miss Liberation Day Queen in ceremonies held at Garapan Fishing Base.

Born in American Samoa, the 16-year-old Saipan Southern High School senior moved together with her family to Saipan when she was just a year old and, unfortunately, has no recollection of her native land.

She said her father, Larry, was originally from Western Samoa, while her mother, Tina, is from American Samoa.

The third of seven siblings that include four brothers and two sisters, Yvonne went to elementary school at William S. Reyes Elementary School and finished junior high at Hopwood.

Yvonne said she was probably the most surprised of all the people at the Garapan Fishing Base when she was announced Liberation Day Queen two Saturdays ago.

“Actually I had no idea who the winner was, because the way Laila [Boyer] said it, it sounded like Nicole [Roberts] was being announced the winner. So, when she was actually saying my name as the winner I has no idea I actually was the Liberation Day Queen,” she said.

Yvonne said the entire awards ceremony went like a blur to her and she didn’t even notice that she already was crying when she was presented to the crowd with tiara on her head and all.

“I wasn’t expecting to cry, but I did cry. But those were tears of joy and happiness more than anything else,” she said.

Close to a week after she won, Yvonne said nothing has really changed and she is still the same girl she was prior to winning the contest.

Yvonne conceded, though, that she did get a lot of congratulations from both family and friends and has been recognized a lot more after her coronation night photos were splattered all over the local newspapers.

“I got to win a neat crown, a necklace, and some other prizes, but I don’t feel anything different after winning. I just feel normal and the same,” she said. “My friends were pretty happy for me and congratulated me. They said they knew all along I could do it. I’m still hanging out with my friends and I don’t expect winning the Liberation Day Queen contest would change all that.”

Asked about her plans in the future, Yvonne volunteered she would like to take up either nursing or education at the Northern Marianas College after graduating from high school.

She said her love for teaching was inspired by her high school teacher Tyrone Castro, while her desire to be a nurse is borne out of her wanting to take care of others.

For now, Yvonne said she would like to continue her passion for dancing (she is part of Tasi and Aliis Polynesian dance troupe at Dai-Ichi Saipan Beach) and soak up as much island culture as possible.

One way of doing that is by lending her talents and time to the community during her reign as 2005 Liberation Day Queen.

And part of the job description is promoting the ideals and tenets espoused by Liberation Day and the concurrent Fourth of July celebrations marking the United States’ Declaration of Independence.

“I’m proud to be an American and I support our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan,” she said.

Yvonne said she knows pretty well that the freedom and liberty now enjoyed by Americans are because of the sacrifices made by its Armed Forces and forefathers.