Recent Project Involvement: Heiva Friendship Photoshoot

When people find out that I’m involved with the Pacific Islander community, many of them ask me what exactly it is that I do, especially when they hear that I’m a “pageant girl”. Let me clear one thing up first, I don’t consider myself a pageant girl. I never thought I’d be one and I still don’t see my role with PIFA as the stereotypical pageant girl role.

As a figure in the community, regardless how large or small of a figure I am, my role is to represent, empower, and actively participate in community events. I truly believe that one of my largest responsibilities involves constantly learning from the community and its members. One of the biggest blessings that I receive from all of this involvement - being able to network and meet so many amazing people through the variety of opportunities that arise. These are the people that I'm able to learn so much from.

One of the people that I have the pleasure of knowing and working with is Lindsay McNicol. She is one of the founders of Heiva San Diego, an event coordinator, lifestyle blogger, and one of my role models. She has many talents and one of them is being able to unite people and perpetuate a message. This year I had the honor of participating in the Heiva Friendship Photoshoot all thanks to Lindsay.

This is just one example of what I do. I connect with others, I learn about their message, and try my best to emulate that message in everything I do- whether that means helping to coordinate and plan an event, marketing for events, doing promos, or even participating in things like photo shoots, news segments, and radio promos. It’s larger than just what you see on the outside and it’s something that’s hard to put into words, but my involvement with projects like this one is because of my love for the culture and the message that we want to share with others.

I hope to continue my involvement and one day (very soon) create an event of my own that shares a message that everyone can connect with.

Sincerely,
Alana

Heiva SD