Venezia Martinez, a 17-year-old from El Paso, is preparing to represent the state of Chihuahua at the Miss Teen Universe Mexico competition this week. She will face 30 other state representatives in the national contest.
Martinez won the Teen Universe Chihuahua title in December. She said the win came as a surprise, and that her parents had encouraged her to step outside her comfort zone and enter. "My parents kind of gave me like that push to get out of my comfort zone and try, because I would have never thought that I would have won," she said. The victory, she added, showed her that hard work can lead to great things.
To get ready for the national event, Martinez has joined an agency that is helping her prepare. She said school remains her first priority. In her view, the pageant is about more than looks. "It's not only beauty, but it's also being intellectually smart," she said.
Martinez is a senior at Silva Magnet High School, where she plays on the varsity soccer team and works as an athletic trainer. She is also taking college classes. After graduation she plans to study Biomedical Sciences at UTEP and then go on to medical school, with the goal of becoming a pediatrician.
She said her age has not held her back. "Even if I'm just 17 years old, I don't think that age really matters," she said, describing the pageant as a long-held dream. She said she intends to do everything in her power to balance soccer, school and competition.
Martinez said winning a crown is not her only aim. She wants to use her platform to champion education. She also credited pageants with helping her grow. "Pageants have helped me be more secure about myself, because before I was struggling with self-love and my self-esteem," she said.
Edgar Rincon, principal of Jefferson Silva High School, called Martinez a model for other students. He said he is proud that a student from the campus will represent the school in such a large competition. When he learned she had won and was advancing to the Mexico pageant, he said, the school felt it had to highlight her and offer congratulations. "She's doing a great job," Rincon said.
Martinez was born and raised in El Paso and takes pride in her Mexican-American heritage. She said the hardest part of the process has been overcoming insecurity about how she speaks. Because she is bilingual, she sometimes struggles to form words, and she stutters often. Over time, she said, she has come to see being bilingual as "a superpower" rather than a weakness. It lets her represent her culture, share her values and be seen.
The new Miss Teen Universe Mexico will be crowned this weekend in Morelia, Michoacán.
