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Th ursday, September 7, 2017 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • 3Serving your community since 1856 CITY NEWS WATERLOO CHRONICLE CITY NEWSCITY NEWS WATERLOO CHRONICLE By Joy Struthers Chronicle Sta� Xinxin Zhang doesn't want to have any regrets. � e 26-year-old University of Waterloo graduate has her masters in accounting, a suc- cessful career in � nance and is currently working in New York City, but there was one thing left she wanted to do -- enter the Miss Universe Canada pag- eant. "It's not so hard to imagine I would do pageants because growing up I always had a pas- sion for the arts. I had a thing for stage performance," Zhang said who is also a Waterloo native. � roughout her childhood she studied dance, includ- ing ballet at the National Bal- let School of Canada, and had musical as well as ath- letic training. She continues to dance and has volunteered doing choreography for chari- table functions including some at the Toronto Community and Cultural Centre for young adults. She said she wants to do more motivational speaking for youth. "I want to emphasize that it's really optimism, deter- mination, commitment and hard work that drives results," Zhang said. If there were one thing she would share, it would be that young women don't have to pick a single path. She said she hopes her mosaic background will be an inspiration. "You can create your own identity," she said. Her award-winning com- munity service inspires her to use dance as a way to create awareness of Operation Smile, the charity of choice for the pageant. Zhang said a 25 per cent of the � nal mark for the pageant is based on the contestant's humanitarian work. "You feel like you're mak- ing a difference and doing something impactful," she said. Operation Smile collects funds in order to provide sur- geries for children born with cleft lips or cleft palates. "Based on my research, every three minutes a child is born with cleft palate," Zhang said. She said it only takes about $240 for the surgery but in Nicaragua, where they are helping children through the pageant, the need is great because of extreme poverty. Zhang wants to help others and also wants to work hard in the pageant to learn from the experience. It wasn't an easy task to get registered. She found the pageant's contact informa- tion online and started calling, but it took about a year to get involved due to timing. "I was so tenacious that I went into the Miss Universe headquarters in New York City. I did a lot of legwork," Zhang said. She loves that in Can- ada the competition is quite diverse and said women qual- ify based on their communica- tion skills and previous accom- plishments. "You don't have to look a certain way," she said. She has become more motivated to be healthy, eat well and exercise by the experi- ence. One of her life goals was to be able to do 10 pushups, which she can do now. Finding time to work out while working full-time and dancing has been a challenge. "Trying to prepare for this pageant took a lot of determi- nation and sleepless nights," Zhang said. Sometimes she works as late as 5 a.m. on projects at work as her schedule var- ies. She never knows what to expect. She has used some vacation time for the pageant and travelling back home to her family in Waterloo. Right now the contestants are all preparing their human- itarian projects and trying to raise awareness and funding for Operation Smile, and also making sure they stay in shape. Zhang wants people to know there is a lot of work that goes into it. "It's not just a show for girls to walk on stage in a pretty dress," she said. Although finding an eve- ning gown and a costume are important. "I really wanted a dress that had my personality in it and that only I could wear," Zhang said. She was able to find a designer to custom make one for her that she met originally at a fashion show in Toronto. Candace Lau is also a Uni- versity of Waterloo graduate, and works for CIBC in Toronto as a business consultant while pursuing her fashion dreams part-time. She first got attention for her designs while at Waterloo during a term fashion show. After she graduated she was contacted by some Toronto event co-ordinators and start- ed doing charity events. This led to doing small shows in Toronto Fashion Week. Under her Label Candace Daniella, she mainly does out- erwear for women and men and said she doesn't normally design gowns. "It's really fun and interest- ing. I'm learning a lot in the process too," Lau said. She said the hardest part in designing a custom made piece is figuring out exactly what the client wants. "If she doesn't feel good in it, even if everyone else thinks it's amazing, it's not a winner," she said. Lau said they aim to col- laborate and align both of their expectations and visions. For Zhang, they decided on elegant and classy, but still unique. Lau is also designing a cus- tom Canadian costume for the competition that had some requirements. It needs to have a Canadian theme and contain the colours red and white if possible. "I really hope she feels beautiful and confident," Lau said. It means a lot to her to have a contestant trust her to do this. Lau said it is a new experi- ence for her and she is excited to see her creations, and Zhang on stage. Lau has been featured in magazines and on runways and is now aiming to get her designs in stores. Candace Daniella items and informa- tion can be found online at https://www.candacedaniela. com/. Both Lau and Zhang want people to watch the Miss Uni- verse Canada Pageant and shared that tickets will be avail- able to purchase for the show in Toronto that will be held on Oct. 9. There will be a people's choice award that viewers can vote for during the pageant, but there is also voting online. Zhang said she wanted to encourage viewers to visit http://missuniversecanada.ca/ or follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ xinxinmissuniverse/or Insta- gram at https://www.insta- gram.com/xinxin_artiste/ for more information. She is also looking for peo- ple to get involved with Opera- tion Smile at https://www. youcaring.com/operations- mile-921556. Local grad looking to add Miss Universe Canada to her accomplishments � e quest for the crown JOY STRUTHERS PHOTO Waterloo's Xinxin Zhang is hoping to top off an impressive resume of accomplishments with the Miss Universe Canada title. Call 519-623-3050 ext. 232 GO "MULTI-MEDIA" with Metroland Starting aS low aS $299 • target geographically using IP addresses • target behaviourally using consumer habits • target "on-the-fly, but close-by" with our fully mobile programs for phones, tablets and other devices ADvErTIsE yOUr MEssAGE On-LInE! 20,000 to1.2 million views or more annually