Mariah Morris is setting her sights on becoming the next B.C. youth ambassador. Morris, who was Miss Castlegar in 2010, was selected to participate in the B.C. Ambassador Program, which takes place on August 17 and 18 in Merritt.
"There are 15 girls in the pageant this year," she said. "Unfortunately, there are no guys this year. The candidates are from throughout British Columbia. There's one from New Westminster, Kelowna, Kamloops, Trail, it's quite spread out."
Morris has met many of her competitors from her year as Miss Castlegar. "It's nice to have a couple of friends there," she said. "It's going to be a tough competition."
The B.C. Ambassador Program has been around since 1999 and is open to young men and women aged 17-24 who have held an ambassador/royal title in the province.
The mandate for the program is to nurture provincial leaders of the future, promote and assist with the expenses of post-secondary education, and to forge links of friendship and understanding throughout British Columbia.
From the pageant in Merritt, three are crowned as B.C. Youth Ambassadors.
"Those three get a $1,500 scholarship for being a B.C. ambassador," said Morris. "They will represent B.C. for the upcoming year as a youth ambassador going around the province representing the mandate of the program."
The pageant goes for two days and Morris and the other candidates will be judged on general knowledge of B.C., personal interviews with the judges, presentation skills, public speaking, and talent.
"I'm very excited about competing," said Morris. "I wanted to participate last year but I was too young. This year I'm really excited to go."
In addition to preparing for the pageant, Morris is busy preparing for her graduation at Stanley Humphries Secondary School. She has been accepted into U.B.C. Okanagan in Kelowna for pre-pharmacy and is excited about that as well.
It that isn't enough, she's also a very accomplished singer and musician. You might've heard her singing the national anthem at the Castlegar Rebels' games or performing at the Rick Hansen Relay celebration.
"I love singing and playing guitar," she said. "I've been doing that since I was eight years-old. It's kind of taken a back seat, unfortunately, with everything going on."
Morris hopes her time as Miss Castlegar helps her at the B.C. Youth Ambassador pageant.
"It was a great experience," she said. "It was so much fun. I got to meet so many new people and experience so many different things. I got to see how beautiful Castlegar really is and got to volunteer at so many events around town such as SunFest."
Morris is very thankful to her sponsors, the city of Castlegar, RHC Insurance, Allen Markin CGA, and Castlegar Pharmasave for helping her with the expenses of attending the event.