Resident to Compete in Miss Teen Belleza Latino Pageant
By Chris Seymour | Correspondent at July 17, 2024 | 9:00 am | Print
Miss Teen Connecticut Belleza Latina 2015, Lakisha Malave, a New Britain resident, will head to Orlando next month (Aug. 5-7) to compete in the Miss Teen Belleza Latina International Pageant.
Lakisha, a 17-year-old senior at Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, is a seasoned veteran of the pageant circuit, so she is obviously feeling confident heading into next month’s international pageant (also known as “nationals”).
“I am very confident in myself and what I can achieve,” said Lakisha, whose previous pageant wins include Miss Preteen Puerto Rico of Hartford and Little Miss Connecticut Belleza Latina.
Lakisha earned the Miss Teen Connecticut Belleza Latina crown in West Hartford on June 14, when she excelled in the four areas of the pageant: interview (which comprises 40 percent of one’s score), fashionwear (25 percent), evening gown (25 percent) and photogenic (10 percent).
During the interview portion, Lakisha was asked a number of questions, including “What does being Latina mean to you?” She was also asked to describe herself in one word.
With respect to the former question, Lakisha described being Latina as “being a strong woman; strong and independent because once you see a Latina woman in the room you can just feel our presence—not just physically but by the way that we carry ourselves.”
In terms of describing herself in one word, Lakisha—the daughter of Lisa Villafane and Noel Torres—went with “determined,” explaining, “I am determined because I am very focused and goal-oriented, so once I set my mind to a goal I try my very best to accomplish it.”
Though she has one year of high school left—Capital Prep’s school year runs from early July through late May—Lakisha has set her sights on becoming a prosecutor. “I would want to focus on the criminal aspect [of law] just because I know there are a lot of injustices and the topic interests me,” she said.
Lakisha, who is 100 percent Puerto Rican, was born on the US commonwealth, where she spent her first 7 years before moving to Hartford; after a year in Connecticut’s Capital City, she relocated to New Britain. When she was 9, she participated in her first pageant—and the rest is history.
“My mom is the one who first got me involved in this when I was 9,” recalled Lakisha, adding her mom, Lisa, has been her biggest supporter and fan.
In addition to being a veteran of pageants, Lakisha plays varsity softball (and was a co-captain her junior year) as well as varsity volleyball; she is also a leader in student government at Capital Prep and is the president of the Gay-Straight Alliance.
If she is able to bring the international title back from Florida next month, Lakisha is excited about the opportunities that could present.
“When you win the pageant, it just opens a lot of doors and [gives you] exposure with media and stuff like that, which is what I am interested in,” explained Lakisha, adding that the exposure would give her a chance to advance her platform, which centers on getting Latino youth more involved in the community and having them learn about their culture.
