By Alicia Roache, Staff ReporterTHE FIRST 'Miss Jamaica Bikini World' is an unassuming, yet confident Yenique Chance. She is a 21 year-old signed to Champs Model Management.
Yenique has been modelling for three years, though she took a break a year ago to pursue other jobs. The 5'7'', 112 lb. model will represent Jamaica in the international competition, to be held in Malta later on this year.
"I feel really uplifted that I'll be travelling to Lebanon (where the competition has been previously held) to meet all those ladies and to represent Jamaica. I'm really looking forward to it", she says.
Yenique is unlike many young women her age and in her chosen profession. She is remarkably well-rounded and gifted in many ways. Since her days at St. Joseph's High School, Yenique has been winning competitions. She was dubbed the 'Champion Girl' in athletics at that school in 1998 and a slew of competitions since then have displayed various aspects of this multifaceted young lady.
In 2000 she was a finalist in the Miss Teen Jamaica competition; she won the Miss Stony Hill title in 2001 one which she still holds; 2002 saw her competing in the Miss Black History competition where she recited, to considerable response from the crowd, a poem which she wrote.
Yenique is also a talented singer according to Debbie-Ann Stanley, CEO of Champs. "She has a good balance between talent and beauty", she says of Yenique.
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But this young model/ athlete/singer/beauty queen wants to add another slash behind her many titles. Yenique has her sights set on Hollywood. "I want to become an international movie star," she says. "Being a model boosts my confidence a lot. That will help me to reach my goal."
She may have had some practice at acting when she appeared as part of the second cast in the Rat Trap, a theatrical production that was staged last year, alongside Calvin 'Mas Jasper' Morris. "I like diversity", she says. "I just sit in any chair I get".
With the help of her mentor and manager Debbie-Ann Stanley, whom she describes as a "perfectionist", Yenique is confident she will achieve her goals. "She is very stern, but when it's time for play she is going to be there for you. She is very helpful. If you have a situation you can always talk to her. But when it's time for work you have to work - but you have to work well. She don't stop pushing you until you reach that point that you know that's where you want to go," Yenique says of Stanley.
In addition to modelling and all the other activities of her busy life, Yenique says she finds time for swimming, writing her poems and designing. "I like most of all to design my own outfits", she says.
The multi-talented young woman has encouraging words for aspiring models. "If you want to be a model, don't let anything stop you. Whatever you want to be in life you can be. Anything you want to be, all you have to do is discipline yourself towards it and just go for it, as long as you have that determination - and sometimes you must be aggressive or else you will be at the back of the line forever," Yenique says.
