A young Red Deer woman has received a top honour and has been crowned Miss Alberta 2014.

Gina Omilon was scouted out by one of the agents from Miss Teen Canada for the title.

“They just opened the division. It was just for the U.S. when it just started and now they have opened it up to South America and Canada,” she said, adding that she was officially crowned Miss Alberta 2014 in April.

This month Omilon will head to Florida where she will compete for the title of Miss American Beauty. That pageant takes place June 24-28th.

“I’m excited for it. It will be my first international competition for pageants. I think that it is going to be exciting to see how different countries come together.”

Before being crowned Miss Alberta 2014, Omilon has worked hard to achieve other goals as well. She was crowned Miss Teen Red Deer at a provincial pageant hosted by the Miss Teen Canada World in Calgary in March 2012. She held that title for one year before passing it on.

And last July she co-hosted the Miss Teen Canada World Pageant in Toronto alongside Luke Bilyk of Degrassi: The Next Generation.

Meanwhile, Omilon is using her title as Miss Alberta 2014 to spread a message of confidence as well.

This fall she will be traveling to Edmonton to speak at a conference called True Beauty for young girls and boys.

“It’s about inner confidence and the fact that you don’t need a relationship to be somebody or a spectacular job to be somebody,” she said. “It’s about finding your own inner happiness and self-confidence.”

She added she feels honoured to have the opportunity to use her title in a positive way and to help make a difference.

“It’s exciting and it’s fun like go to the NHL playoffs and meet celebrities. But one of my favourite things is to go to and speak at schools. I know when I did Miss Teen Red Deer my platform was education and that has definitely not changed. I love being invited to speak at conferences or just to go a Kindergarten class and colour with them. I am grateful for those experiences because not everyone gets to do that.”

Omilon has been attending The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles. She moved there in the fall of 2012 to begin her schooling and will spend the next three years completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts specializing in acting.

Last fall she had the opportunity to go to New York for an exchange program.

“It was a crazy learning experience but it was amazing. One of the highlights from New York in general was watching the ball drop in Times Square which was amazing. I also went to the Hunger Games premiere so I got to meet with Philip Seymour Hoffman roughly two or three weeks before he passed away.

“I was really lucky to be able to meet him.”

She also had the opportunity to be on a film set twice with Johnny Depp.

“He is so incredibly nice.”

Omilon will spend the summer in Red Deer before heading back for her third year out of four in LA at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy.

efawcett@reddeerexpress.com