REACHING for the crown, the candidates for Mr. and Ms. Psychology 2024: “The Crystal Gems” ended the Bedan Psychological Society’s (BPS) “Psychweek” festivities with a bang as they battled it out to see who was the fairest of them all.

Miss Scandal

Over the past years, BPS experienced disinterest in student participation in pageantry; prior editions of the show pre-pandemic have seen two representations from each block, which has since decreased its pool of participants to four female and three male candidates. While few would argue that incentives remain the deciding factor for students to consider joining the events, the organization continues to provide impactful projects to “Psykhelites” (pertained to Psychology students of SBCA).

Spoken like a True Queen

It begs the question of the existence of pageantry, especially in co-curricular organizations, whose main focus is arguably to produce initiatives that will further academic performance.

Bianca Lavin (III-BAP), BPS President, said this about pageantry relevance. "I believe pageants are more than the superficial things that it poses to champions, such as flashy dresses, high heels, and tuxedos (but I mean, what’s not to like, right?). More importantly, it’s about showmanship, humility, poise, and responsibility for taking a role meant to inspire others. If done properly and strongly, pageants can be an excellent platform for awareness on various issues and the perfect building blocks toward confidence of the individuals it showcases."

Walk the Talk

True enough, it was Ms. Best Advocacy, Ms. Chelsey Chua (III-BAP), who snatched the title together with Mr. Daniel Taban (I-BSP), who used the platform to bring the spotlight to Empowering Children with Disabilities and Passing the SOGIE Bill respectively that further solidified the potential pageantry holds in impacting the community.

As Mr. and Ms. Psychology wrapped up the celebration, organizers and candidates highlighted advocacies of Mental Health, Wellness, and Well-Being to the audience. Highlighting the opportunity and platform pageantry gives students like them to share what they believe is worth hearing. Pageantry gives hope more than the crown. In fairness!