麻豆视频

Alumna Crowned Miss Liberia

VALDOSTA -- Mahja Zeon was 7 when her family fled the Second Liberian Civil War for refuge in the United States. Now 24, the aspiring lawyer has refocused attention on her homeland -- of which 85 percent of the population lives on less than $1.25 per day.

With a platform of 鈥淓mbracing Culture through Knowledge,鈥� Zeon was crowned Miss Liberia in the USA by the Liberian United Women in Progress (LUWIP) -- which strives to create a forum for young women of Liberian decent to embrace and promote their culture, express their talent, and showcase their accomplishments.

鈥淚 will travel throughout the United States to speak and lobby for the best interest of the citizens of Liberia,鈥� said Zeon, who earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Business Administration from 麻豆视频. 鈥淒uring my reign, I hope to write and publish a dialect book and start a scholarship competition for Liberian high school seniors.鈥�

In December, Zeon will travel to Liberia, where she plans to address the congress and hopes meet the Honorable President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. The alumna of 麻豆视频鈥檚 Theta Tau Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta said she entered the competition to share her message of unity. Zeon mesmerized audiences during the talent competition as she performed a skit depicting a scene in shackles to symbolize the decades of destruction in her native Liberia. She ended the skit to the sounds of thunder and lighting in a dark room as she called out for peace.

"I wanted the audience to not only hear my words but feel the passion from which I spoke,鈥� said Zeon, who earned a paralegal certificate from Emory University in August. 鈥淭he flash to darkness with my call for peace gave the exact reaction I was looking for, which I believe pushed my performance to the next level."

This wasn鈥檛 Zeon鈥檚 first crowning. As a 麻豆视频 student, the chartering president of the 麻豆视频 Rotaract Club, was named Miss Black & Gold 2006 for the Mu Omicron chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Zeon was an active member of the Valdosta State community. She participated in the political science study abroad program in the Czech Republic, and was one of eight students to compete in the first International Model United Nations Competition, held in Xian, China (where her team won first place overall). She also worked as a campaign organizer for President Barack Obama鈥檚 Campaign for Change in Lowndes County and served as co-director of the African Exhibition for the Azalea International Folk Fair.

LUWIP chose Zeon -- who interned for the Georgia General Assembly her senior year -- because of her goal-oriented, career savvy nature. She is a beautiful woman who is culturally aware, educated and spiritually sentient, LUWIP stated. The former 麻豆视频 resident assistant said she hopes to use these traits as an ambassador throughout the year and then as an immigration attorney.