Following faith to victory

 Jamariya Mason-Price  with other contestants.

The day wasn’t typical for Jamariya Mason-Price as she was preparing for one of the biggest moments in her life.

Nervousness and excitement were the emotions that ran through her all day as it got closer and closer to showtime.

She practiced her performance for two months to perfect it and to make sure she was ready to woo the crowd.

With the help of friends, she became more confident and was ready to take on the competition. She was ready to win.

As the night came to be, Mason- Price graced the stage with her talents, from walking the walk in her business wear and swimsuit to embodying the literature icon Toni Morrison -- then lastly expressing herself as a Black girl in today’s society.

It then came to the part of the show where she had to show her real feelings to the crowd about worldly issues in the question-and-answer portion. She nailed it.

The anticipation then increased for Jamariya, her fellow competitors and the crowd as they awaited the judge’s final decision before crowning a queen.

 With contestants waiting patiently, the judges finally made their decision on the next queen. Going down the line of winners, Mason-Price was so eager to know if she would be the last name called as the first-place candidate.

Then it happened. Jamariya A. Mason-Price was crowned 2019-20 Miss Big & Beautiful at Claflin University.

Mason-Price, 20, is from the small, close-knit town of Hemingway, where she graduated from West Florence High School in Florence. She then decided to further her education at Claflin, double majoring in mass communications and English.

After winning the Miss Big & Beautiful pageant, she loves to reflect on the night and the steps she took to become the queen.

“I originally started this experience hoping to help myself along with others build confidence in themselves. I’ve always been confident about my shape and size, but even I too fall short into insecurities. This was just a reminder that I am beautiful in my own unique way and to encourage those among me that size doesn’t matter” Mason-Price said.

Through all the hard work she put in toward being the new Miss Big & Beautiful, she didn’t break under pressure and followed faith to her victory. She won.