A photo on social media has sent a Lara student on a whirlwind international beauty pageant adventure.
Amber Dew, 19, began competing in pageants after a modelling agency executive saw her tagged on a Facebook photo late last year.
“Shortly after that we met up for interviews and within a couple of months I was sent over to Taiwan to compete in my first pageant, Miss Charity Queen, where I represented Australia against 87 other countries,” Amber said.
“After that experience I fell in love with pageants and became a freelance model and now often judge pageants.”
Amber studies commerce and arts in a double major at Deakin University.
She was recently named Miss Geelong Galaxy and will compete in the Galaxy pageant’s national finals on the Gold Coast next week.
The winner will fly to the US in August for international finals in Florida, Amber said.
“I’d recommend any girl to join a pageant because you just never know where it could lead you.”
The Miss Galaxy Australia pageant encourages participants to be a “role model to their peers and community”, partly through fundraising for their chosen charities, Amber said.
She has been raising money for Make A Wish Foundation with the help of various local business sponsors.
“As part of my fundraiser I put together a raffle and successfully sold all of the tickets, with 100 per cent of proceeds going directly to Make A Wish Foundation,” she said.
Founded in 1985, Make A Wish has granted the wishes of more than 8000 children with life-threatening illnesses.
Numerous children from the Geelong region have been beneficiaries over the past 30 years.
More information about the charity is available at makeawish.org.au.
