This is a perfect example of #redirection.
17 year-old Erika Vinculado of Roxas City took part in Miss World Philippines 2022. She made it to the first cut of the competition.
Little did she know that a bigger reward is waiting for her in Michigan, USA.
Congratulations!
Below is an update from her alma mater Ateneo de Manila Senior High School:
As a result of her outstanding participation in Kettering University’s recent Academically Interested Minds (AIM) program, Erika Vinculado (12-Gonzalez) has been awarded a full tuition scholarship for up to five years at Kettering University in Michigan, USA, beginning the Fall Term of School Year 2023-2024. Erika and 29 other students of color from all over the world secured the all-expenses-paid slots (including roundtrip airfare) to attend the AIM five-week pre-college program that was held from July 5 to August 5, 2022. Of the 27 students who made it to the USA to attend AIM, Erika was eventually awarded 1st place in Physics and named #1 Student Overall at the program’s conclusion, besting her 26 fellow student participants.
AIM is an intensive academic experience that was developed by Kettering University and inaugurated in 1984 to help students of color make a successful transition from high school to college. Throughout the five weeks of the program, participants attend classes in Calculus, Chemistry and Physics, work in groups on a specific case study, take quizzes and exams, and are introduced to various opportunities available in the STEM field. Kettering University is recognized in the United States as an educational leader in experiential Engineering, Computer and Laboratory Sciences, and Business Management.
The 2022 AIM reportedly marks the first time that students from the Philippines were given coveted slots to experience the program (another senior high school student from Central Philippines University in Iloilo also attended). Erika is also reportedly the first Filipino AIM attendee to be awarded a full, up-to-five-years tuition scholarship, as these are usually awarded to AIM attendees from the USA, Mexico and Jamaica.
AMDG, Erika!
normannorman.com 
Now, this is the “Exceptionally Empowered Filipina”. The pageant trumpeting the search for the “Exceptionally Empowered Filipina” did not seem to see the greater inner beauty outside her physical beauty. Congrats Erika! The scholarship is more valuable than a beauty crown.
Pansin mo? ‘Eto’ng si Mr. ALV, ang pinipili for the teen component of his pageant (whether for Eco-Teen or the lower age limit of MW), mga academic achievers usually…
Also Ph.D. holders from ‘familia buena’. Come to mind Drs. Trisha Martinez & Shaila Rebortera, one a dentist & the other a…. Ano nga ba? Naaalala mo?
And then I-forgot-her-name, na one of us here knows, from Bohol, na the family does charity work… Was she ‘MR’? This was that much-storied 2020/1 ‘pandemic batch’ that got delayed… Just recalling out loud. I hope your weekend goes well!
I am happy for her!
Flint, MI is not the safest city, so please stay safe! Plus, drink bottled water!
Kahit hindi niya nauwi ang isa mga korona ng MWP. Mas malaki naman ang dumating sa kanya. Makatanggap ng full scholarship mula sa isang kilalang pamantasan ay isang karangalan at isang pangarap din ng lahat ng gustong magkaroon magandang kinabukasan.
She is very lucky. I wish her the best of luck on her new endeavor.
much better than a crown.
I do not like the description “students of color”. Bakit hindi na lang “students from all over the world” or similar non-racist descriptions?
Because you are not WHITE!
You are Colored!
And what Racist connotation are you talking about!?
Been living in the USA for over 30 years,
I have no problems with the word “Color”
My skin is lighter than some white people..
But I never consider myself White.
Science tells us that white is the presence of all colors and black is the absence of all colors.
@ Kahl Margraf That’s a brilliant & smart way to put it! So wise of you.
It works either way, doesn’t it? 🙂
‘White’, being all colors at once, means inclusiveness.
‘Black’, the absence of color, means it doesn’t need to matter, a level playing field.
Either way.
“Students of color” is the politically correct term used in describing a minority who does not originate from a particular class. The term refers to students who self-identify as African American, Mexican American, Latinx, Asian, Native American, and/or a mix of the aforementioned racial identities.
So, there is no discrimination or racist issue here.
That’s all.
@Bentley Tagguibba- wala naman akong nakikitang masama don…nag ooverthink ka lang or hypersensitive ka. hindi yan makakabuti sayo pag di mo inagapan.
You are just an unhinged, sensitive, and woke individual.
Felicidades!
(Fee6, my gosh. My waterloo… Ang TINDI ne’to’ng bata’ng ‘ire! ‘Top’ pa. At sa Over-all.)
Co-ed na pala Ateneo de Manila High School. Kailan pa, po?
And I will assume this Kettering University is also a Catholic school, if Jesuit…
By her age, would have vied for Eco-Teen International, no? Btw, how’s Beatrice Mclleland’s preparations? I LOVED her walk, very fluid wide strides, a’ la Papantoniou.
PS I respectfully nominate Tatyana Austria for Class President. Char! For MUP, pala. 🙂
Nag-Coed sila sa SHS shortly after, if not at the start of, the implementation of K-12.
(Cont.)
‘Redirected’ is, imHo, not an appropriate word…
Regardless of whether or not she was bagging one of the MWP crowns, this prize was already in the making. No redirection happened because she never left this path!
Ganito, ‘ata, ‘yun’g mga tina-target for pageantry. Mga driven/focused-if-accomplished individuals who also happen to be beautiful.
Maybe in life it’s not unusual to go down several paths simultaneously, as an expression of our various roles. And one path ending doesn’t mean the end of everything.
Again, congratulations! And have a fruitful time there.
@ Nakakalurker Honga pala. May ‘J-‘ at ‘S-‘ High School na ngayon. Noon kasi, ‘HS’ lang. Tanders moment strikes on the last Friday of the month! Lolz (myself). 🙂