It's almost impossible to meet someone as sweet and true to herself as Marisela Demontecristo. I think she hasn't grasped the fact that she's the new "Nuestra Belleza Latina," the new example for many Latina girls across the country who came to the states because their parents wanted to live "The American Dream."
I say this because when I got the opportunity to sit down and talk with her, in the eight minutes each reporter had to interview the new beauty queen, I left with the impression that her gorgeous pair of high heels were rooted deeply to the ground.
Marisela is not one to take things for granted. The 20-year old model came to the U.S. when she was 10, and it was around that time when her sister gave birth to a premature baby girl. The baby was born with her intestines outside her body, and ever since that moment, Marisela's niece has spent the majority of her life in an O.R.
To cope with her family's situation, especially the amount of money needed to operate her niece every time she needed surgery, Marisela found TV to be very distracting and entertaining. Particularly one special show, whose first season premiered when Demontecristo was 14-years old. That show was "Nuestra Belleza Latina."
"I've always loved the show, since the first season when Alejandra Espinoza won. And this year was crucial for me. I finally decided to do it because my family needs a lot of financial help, and so does my niece, so I told everyone 'I'm gonna do it, and I'll fight for it and see what happens.' It was a matter of persevering, always thinking how happy my mom would be if she was worries-free."
When Marisela finally joined the show, she got devastating news that could've compromised her performance, but instead made her fight even harder to win that crown.
"When the show began, my sister told me that her daughter was having issues again and she wasn't feeling good. She needed a new surgery. So I promised her that if I won the show, I was going to help her get the surgery she needed because I only want her to be healthy so she can grow up like a normal child."
The beauty queen later added, "She is now 10-years old and after the show, I saw her and she looked fine. But yes, she does have stomachaches once in a while. Right now I'm very busy with work, but as soon as I go to Las Vegas, we're going to plan how things are going to work out with the doctors and specialists so they perform any surgery the girl needs."
Needless to say, Marisela didn't have it easy the first two weeks on the show. Between the news of her niece being sick again, and the pressure she faced when judges and contestants didn't think she had what it takes, she started to doubt herself.
"The first two weeks were definitely the hardest. Those days I felt so bad that I couldn't even talk. I felt discouraged, and it was always because of the same criticism I got. But I finally had it, and decided that it could go either way. So I decided to be strong and prove everyone that I can do it, and it was then when I realized my ability to represent the Latina woman."
She was told that she couldn't do it, that she was too shy and she didn't belong in the competition, that she didn't have any chance to win. But her example of perseverance, defines a true Latina, that fights for what she wants no matter what, until she reaches success.
"A Latina woman is natural, transparent, real, humble, and never forgets where she came from when she's pursuing her dreams. She fights hard to accomplish her goals, until she finally does."
Not only did Marisela become her own definition of a Latina woman, she has a great message for girls all over the world who are pursuing their dreams: "I've always said that education is important. Discipline and will to do things, to go for what you want. Anything is possible in life. From the bottom of my heart, I'm telling you, I felt discouraged at the beginning, felt that I couldn't do anything, but I decided to fight, and proved everyone that I could. I'm telling you, keep going, keep fighting!"
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