PRETTY GIRL

Sarah Bernier

AGE: 23 | HEIGHT: 5'10" | HOMETOWN: DRUMMONDVILLE, QC

Born and raised in a small French speaking town of Quebec, Sarah has made her way into the world. At 23 years old, she has already done some great accomplishments. She is recently graduated from a highly selective program of politics and international relations. Her constant curiosity and openness to the world’s other cultures has brought her to visit over than 20 countries in the last few years.

This passionate, energetic and intelligent young woman wants to pursue her career as a diplomat and represent Canada all over the world. Sarah loves to travel and keeping herself busy with always dozens of project in her hands. She believes that everything happen for a reason and takes advantages of every opportunity that is given to her. This is why she thinks that with the right amount of work and a good positive attitude, everyone can achieve their dreams.

A very approachable women with a lust for life is what you see when you get to know Sarah. Her friends describe her as a person very easy and fun to talk too. She is very mature for her age and has dared to experience every kind of projects. In her spare time, Sarah likes to spend time with her friends, go see movies and play sports, all kind of sports.

If given the opportunity of becoming the next Miss Universe Canada, this ambitious young woman wants to pursue her humanitarian endeavors as well as representing Canada around the world and be a great role model.

Questionnaire

Are you currently a student? no
If yes, where?
Area of study:

Are you currently employed? Yes
If yes, what is your occupation?
I am a bartender and I have my own business in network marketing.

Have you completed secondary school? Yes
If yes, where?
Polyvalente des Appalaches in Ste-Justine, Qc.

Have you completed university/college? Yes
If yes, where?
I have an International baccalaureate diploma from Vanier College in commerce. I also have a degree from University of Sherbrooke, Qc and I studied for one semester at San Francisco State University. I graduated in politics majoring in International Relations.

Have you completed any technical/professional school? No
If yes, where?
What subject?

Languages spoken Fluently (please include your native language if English is not your native language)
French as my native language
I am fluent in English and Spanish

List any special training you have had (music, art, drama, dance, etc).

Belly dancing
Ocean, lake and pool lifeguarding
Theatre
figure skating
scubadiving
In what sports, if any, have you participated and how long have you participated in each sport?
Figure Skating – It is my favourite sport. I practiced and competed in this sport for 11 years. From the early age of 3.
Volley-Ball – I competed for 5 years.
Swimming- since I’m really young and I’m still practicing it.
Snowboarding and skiing – every winter since I’m 3 years old.
Wakeboarding and waterskiing – every summer for 5 years up to now.
Kitesurfing and surfing – Just for fun when I can practice it.
Cheerleading- 1 year
Triathlon – I competed for 2 years
Boxing – 1 year
Golf, baseball, ect. Basically all kinds of sports!

Please list any schools and universities (public/private/graduate/trade or technical) you have or are attending, as well as the area of study, graduation date and any degree or certification you received.
Polyvalente des Appalaches- 1998-2003: Graduated from high school in 2003.
Queen’s Mary High school – 2003: In Mexico (D.F.) I studied for one semester of my secondary 5. It was part of an exchange program of my high school.
Vanier College – 2003-2005: I got a 2 years college degree and an International Baccalaureate diploma trilingual in Commerce.
University of Sherbrooke – 2005-2008: Undergraduate degree in Politics with a major in International Relations.
San Francisco State University – 2007: I studied for one semester in International Relations. It was an exchange within my program at University of Sherbrooke.

What charity/charities have you supported with your time and/or resources over past two years?
I have been part of a QSF (Québec sans frontière / Quebec without boundaries) program from October 2008 until June 2009. We were a group of 9 incredible women from all over the province of Quebec going to Dominican Republic in one of the poorest region of this country named “Nizao-Las Auyamas”. We were initiated to international cooperation and we had to live with families of this region and we had special projects of development, health and participative democracy held during our stay of 10 weeks with them. We worked with an NGO organisation of Santo Domingo named CEPAE (El Centro de planificacion y accion ecumenica). It is the greatest experience I’ve had the chance to live in my life. You look at the world differently and with an all new openness of mind after such an experience.

What would be your "dream job" in life?
I have many dreams of what I want in life. I think that in our days, it’s quite difficult to keep the same job for 40 years. I would certainly love to be able to represent Canada on a diplomatic and political level. To be part of it’s foreign services and have to work all over the world representing Canada and meeting people from different backgrounds, countries and life would be absolutely amazing. One of my other dream jobs is more a way of living. It would be to work 6 months a year and have the whole other half of the year to do some humanitarian projects and get to travel and learn about other cultures.

Name one person, other than your parents, who has had the most influence on your life? Why?
It is very difficult to name only one person who influenced me the most in life. I would say in the past few years 3 people have had a major influence on my life. First would be my university teacher and former ambassador of Canada, Jean-Paul Hubert. He had a big impact in my life for his support, his trust in my capacities and for his overall accomplishments and entire experiences of life he shared with me. Second, would be Francis Jobin, my partner in business. He teached me a lot on the professional and personal level on how to have a successful life and just be a better person. Last, but not least, my aunt Nicole Chabot. She is just the best. She is overall the best person I’ve had the chance to meet in my life. She is currently fighting very serious illnesses and she is the most positive person on earth. She’s influenced me not only with her words but with her behaviours and actions.

What is the proudest personal accomplishment (other than being in this or any other beauty pageant competition)
I have lived a lot of challenging moments in my life, but the one I’m very proud of is when I represented Argentina in the simulation of the Organisation of American states (OAS) in Barranquilla, Colombia. We were 2 rookies out of 8 delegates in my delegation. We were supposed to only help the first speaker and negotiator of our delegation in our comity. During the first afternoon of negotiation, they have elected my partner to become vice president of our assembly so I had to jump in as the head delegate of my team and held this position until the end of the week. It was a very hard experience since everything took place in Spanish, my third language, and I had to play the role and represent diplomats and political officials on my own without any help. I’ve learned a lot not only on the political and international level but also on myself and how I can handle pressure, speak publicly and succeed in challenging time.

What is your career ambition and what are you doing or plan to do to accomplish that goal?
I want to be part of the foreign services of Canada and be a diplomat. I graduated in Politics and International Relations. I also try to be as informed as possible on national and international issues. I try to get as many experiences related to this field as possible and I also work hard on improving my language skills. Being part of Miss Universe Canada pageant will certainly help me in many ways to grow as a person; therefore help me achieve my goals.

Describe where you were raised and what your childhood was like.
I was raised in a small french speaking town of 4000 people one hour south of Quebec city. I am the second of 3 children and my parents raised us with lots of love and great values. I grew up being part of every sports team they were. My dad is a huge sports fan and he transmitted his passion to me. My parents have always been very supporting of my hundreds projects. They believed in me and were very proud of any small accomplishments I did. They have made me who I am today. I left my parent’s house at the age of 16 in order to pursue my dreams and career ambitions in Montreal.

List any interesting or unusual jobs you may have had.
All of my jobs so far have been very interesting and valuable for my future. Among the most interesting was when I worked as a model. Also, working in a bar and doing many different events have been sometimes quite unusual but always fun and full of surprises. Moreover, having to learn how to build my own company and run a business in network marketing has been an enormous growing experience.

List any volunteering you have done.
When I have the opportunity to do some volunteer work, I do it. My most time-consuming project was my experience to Dominican Republic in the region of Nizao/Las-Auyamas. I was involved in this project for nearly a year. I also volunteered for a fundraising event for the local junior hockey team of my town. I was also part of a project helping the unprivileged children of my town to get proper winter clothing. During university I was part of groups such as Amnesty International.

Where is the most interesting place you have been?
I have had the chance to travel in many countries and get to know different cities. I would go back and learn more on all the countries I visited. One of the most interesting places I’ve been would be Bosnia and the cities of Mostar and Sarajevo for their history and for being a the true witness of a devastating war. Also, living in Dominican Republic for a moment has made me love the country for all it has to offer.

What makes you unique and different from the other contestants?
Every contestant is very unique and deserving to be part of this amazing opportunity. Just to dare to participate in this competition tells a lot on our personalities. I think that being born and raised in the French speaking province of Quebec, starting to work as a model at the early age of 12 and living on my own at the age of 16 have given me a great experience in life. Since the age of 12, I’m traveling on my own in over than 20 different countries, paying for my own expenses and my trips have helped me grow has an independent, hard working and driven person. This has also made me very respectful, understanding and open-minded on the different issues and cultures around the world. I am very passionate, I always move forward and I stand for what I believe.

What is your philosophy of/in life?
Nobody can make a better you than yourself! Live your own life the way you believe it is good for you and dare to be different. Live every moment to the fullest and just enjoy life. Always be positive and grateful for what you have.

What do you hope to be doing in 10 years?
In 10 years, I hope to be a successful woman in my professional and personal life. Whatever I will be doing I want to have a positive and a great impact on many people’s life. I want to have a family and just be fulfilled and happy.

Is there anything you would like to tell us about yourself? Something unique that has happened to you? Some interesting thing about you?
Perhaps, that I am a hardworking woman and a quick learner. I also go for the challenge and push me in order to grow as a person. I really see this experience as a true gift and something I will take with me for the rest of my life. I want to thank you for the great opportunity and you can be sure I will cherish and take advantage of every seconds of it.

source: (Thank you and credits to
http://www.beautiesofcanada.com/
and all sources for the information and pictures)