Miyuki Hill unmasked "I'm a genuine person. I don't try to put a facade"
She is the face you see on that television commercial with a catchy jingle. That same face greeted me when I made it to a scheduled interview the other day. With a wide smile, who would never recognize such a familiar face?
Slim and looking unbelievably relaxed, Miyuki Hill lets out a big “Hello!” and as we head to a couch to settle down. I know this will not end up just a regular interview but more of a so-called girls talk.
She has refused to discuss the controversy surrounding the decision of the Northern Marianas Beauty Pageant Association to send her to the Miss International pageant in Japan, instead of title holder Michelle Sablan who, at 24, is overage.
The 20-year-old student of the Northern Marianas College had a sudden reversal of fortune when it was announced last month that she would represent the island next month. Miyuki was adjudged first runner-up during the Miss NMI pageant in February.
“I’m just hanging in there and the emotions haven’t really hit me yet,” quips the Japan-born beauty, the only child of famed lawyer Joe Hill and her Japanese mother.
With barely four weeks before flying to Tokyo on Dec. 4, Miyuki is in the thick of preparations — rigorous training to keep her in top shape, choosing the gowns and dresses to wear and of course, cooking up ways of promoting the islands in Japan, a major source of tourists.
A full-time student and part-time employee of Saipan Datacom, she describes the next few weeks a “struggle” to continue school while minding the bits and pieces just before the D-day.
Miyuki may well be the last Miss International delegate from the Northern Marianas unless NMBPA changes its mind about quitting from the Japan-organized pageant. Next year, there won’t be any local representative pending NMBPA’s revamp.
While three local queens in the past came home with special awards from Miss International, Miyuki aspires to bring more honors on the pageant night on Dec. 14, probably the title that everyone can be proud of.
“I’m putting my all right now so when I get there, I feel good about myself and I feel confident,” she says. “That’s the best I can do.”
Fluent in Japanese, honed in public speaking and active in dramatic theater, Miyuki counts these as her aces over other girls in the pageant that may finally fulfill the hopes of this island for its first international beauty queen.
“I’m a genuine person. I don’t try to put a facade and act someone I’m not. I’m honest. I think those are important qualities (to be a queen),” she says, unfazed by other candidates who probably have more months of training and experience to go with it.
“I’m a very outgoing person and I love to interact or socialize with ladies from other countries. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to represent the diversity of our islands,” she says.
Aside from joining the annual pulchritude parade, pitching NMI’s tourism business will also be Miyuki’s main goal while spending almost two weeks in Japan.
Citing the island’s natural beauty as one of its strengths in luring tourists here, she plans to work with MVA on how to best promote local attractions. But she says she will have the most enjoyable moments in Japan. A Gemini, Miyuki is naturally vibrant and full of life.
After the pageant, she will continue with studies and later move to Hawaii to earn a college degree. She says she has yet to decide what to take up in college, although she had at one time dreamt of becoming a politician.
Miyuki stays at home and reads inspirational books –like those Chicken Soup for the Soul series — for motivation when she does find personal time in between her school work, gym and part-time job.
“I’m very pleased to be their representative for the Miss International. I’m very happy that NMBPA allowed me this opportunity… and I’m going there to do my very, very best,” she says.
Quite a feat for such a young lady. Who says nobody roots for an underdog?
