Nadege Mc. Lauren
Nadege Mc. Lauren is one of the sweetest girls you’ll ever meet. Her inviting smile and gentle nature makes her even more likeable, and it’s easy to see why she was crowned Miss Ciceron: she’s the full package. Nadege is bursting with talent and soon, the world will see just how gifted she is.
A graduate of Castries Comprehensive Secondary School and Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, she aspires to become an accountant and an artiste in the near future.
She has an undeniable passion for Soca music, carnival and fashion and lives by the motto “To establish true self esteem, one must concentrate on their successes and forget about the failure and the negatives in their lives.”
With her new platform, Nadege hopes she can assist in eliminating the stigma attached to her community. According to the 19-year-old, she now has the opportunity to showcase her talent, promote awareness and “encourage persons to erase the thought about Ciceron being a ghetto.”
“Ciceron is a place full of opportunities. It’s a happy place; it’s full of life and it’s a community that never sleeps, because our people are up at all hours hustling. Ciceron is a home to a generation of geniuses and athletes. The Ciceron I know is lively and filled with vivid moments and amusing people,” she said.
She describes her Miss Ciceron experience as a “great one.”
“I learnt a lot and gained valuable life lessons and skills from participating in this pageant,” she said.
To her, this pageant wasn’t all about the glitz and glamour or winning the crown; it was simply about being herself, making the most of the experience and creating friendships and memories that she’ll remember forever.
At the event, she focused on women empowerment and gender equality, something dear to her heart.
“I believe that in today’s society most women are not being empowered because of different situations which occurred in their past, whether it be the death of a loved one, sexual and verbal abuse, teenage pregnancy, discrimination and so on,” she stressed.
Nadege Mc. Lauren
“A number of women are becoming more dependent on men to assist them instead of planning for their future and following their dreams. I would like all women to take ownership of their lives because our past situations should not define who we are now and our future should never define who we are going to be,” she added.
Nadege took part in her first pageant when she was about eight years old. 11 years later, she gave pageantry a second shot, and emerged victorious.
“I worked extremely hard,” she said.
“When I heard my name being called as the winner, tears rolled down my cheeks; I was honestly surprised,” the young queen added.
She continued: “As the title holder, I plan on assisting my community by organizing different activities. These include neighborhood enhancement, helping special needs persons as well as senior citizens and hosting charitable events which will allow persons in the community to come together as one. I believe togetherness will become a key component in building my community and its standards and these activities will change the perception of how persons view Ciceron.”
This is just the beginning for Nadege, who shared that she’ll definitely grace the pageant stage again. (We can’t wait to see her in action!)
As for her music, well… let’s just say she plans to do it big.
Nadege has teamed up with a number of artistes already:‘Positive Vibes’ features Shamz, ‘Make it Shake’ features Umpa and on ‘Man with Bike’ she joins Cooyah and Scoobay for a fast one. She goes solo on ‘Roll De Bumpa’ however, making it clear that she can do her own thing too, no help needed.
The teen hopes to inspire young women like herself.
“Lets us all shut down the negativity, the gossip, the self-doubt, the low self-esteem and continue to encourage other women to step outside their comfort zones,” she said in closing.
Nadege would like to say thank youto the committee members: Anya Edwin, Pauline Francis, Ginetta Pascal and Dr. Ernest Hilaire. Special thanks to Michael Mc. Lauren, Magilta Hippolyte, Racquel John, Cathlina Lawrence, Cherry-Ann Williams, her seamstress Lucia Antoine, who assisted her in getting the fabric to make her evening gown, her true friends who came out to support her and those who sent her words of encouragement, the entire Mc.Lauren and Alfred families and all her supporters both in and out of her community.
