Page 11 - aruba-today-20220706

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local Wednesday 6 July 2022
Noelia Khalil, a talented and intelligent young woman with a

passion for the world of beauty

Noelia Khalil is only 28 Aruba in the pageant Miss
years old, and she is a pro- Teen Americas. There she
fessional doctor working at also won the main title. Af-
the hospital in Aruba as a ter this, Noelia didn’t com-
ward doctor. She grew up pete in beauty pageants
as a dancer, and then en- anymore, because she
tered the world of beauty. went to continue studying
During a conversation with in Costa Rica.
our reporter, she told us
about her experience in She says she likes the world
the world of beauty, as well of beauty pageants be-
as working at the hospital cause ‘you have the op-
during the pandemic, and portunity to grow in every
her nomination and tri- way. You get to know other
umph in the campaign Un- cultures, different ways of
sung Frontline Heroes. thinking’. Las year, Noelia
participated in a virtual in-
Noelia studied medicine in ternational pageant and
Costa Rica. After six years was hoping to this year rep-
she graduated as medi- resent Aruba in person at
cal doctor and she came an international pageant.
back to Aruba and started
working as ward doctor in From a young age, Noelia
January 2020, right when at the end 2021, even always hard; we had three there can’t only be one re- knew she wanted to study
the Covid-19 pandemic though she knew what to waves before it went down ward”, Noelia said. in the field of medicine. For
started. expect, she says the wave a little bit, and when it her, everything started with
She says that at the begin- hit a lot harder. came back with the fourth Ever since she was about 8 a television show, which in-
ning of the pandemic work wave, I can say it was a lot or 9 years old, Noelia par- spired her. “When I was in
was really hard. She didn’t “At the beginning we were harder. And this consider- ticipated in dance groups. 5th grade, the program Dr.
know what to expect be- not prepared for it, and it ing that we were ready for From the world of dance 90210, about plastic sur-
cause worldwide it was made it hectic, particularly it, we knew what to expect she transitioned to the gery, is what inspired me to
something new and un- with the amount of patients from the earlier waves that world of beauty, and the go into medicine. My entire
known. By the fourth wave that was coming in. It was we had from the year be- first pageant in which she career, during my five years
fore. Even so it was a lot participated was Miss Teen in Colegio Arubano (high
harder”, she told us. Aruba International. “My school) and my first five
dance friends convinced years in Costa Rica, I had
During the pandemic, CIBC my mom to sign me up, and the mentality that I would
First Caribbean Bank start- that was really great, I liked become a plastic surgeon,
ed an initiative in the Carib- what the world of beauty or reconstructive surgeon,
bean, ‘FirstCaribbean Un- is, which is not only beauty who helps patients who
sung Frontline Heroes’. This because you really learn because of disease or any
initiative allowed friends so much”, she explained. accident need to recon-
and family members nomi- “It is a development in the struct part of their bodies”,
nate a person working as personal, social… in every she said. “But when I ar-
a frontliner during the pan- aspect, and I really like that rived at the part of surgery,
demic. A variety of people a lot.” I realized that surgery is not
was nominated, like police for me. At that moment I
officers, nurses and ambu- Noelia managed to win the changed my mind. But I al-
lance personnel, among main title in Aruba, and af- ways knew I wanted to be
others. From all the nomi- ter that she went to El Salva- a doctor.”q
nations, each island chose dor, where she represented
three heroes, and Noelia
was in the top three from
Aruba. From the three nom-
inees a story was published
and everyone was allowed
to vote, and it was this way
that Noelia won first place.

“We know how hard we
worked, all that we sacri-
ficed, how tired we were.
And what I find the pretti-
est from this initiative is that
it’s not only the person who
won who gets a prize, but
the other nominees also re-
ceived a prize, and I found
that super pretty. Because
all frontliners worked and