A winner's reflections

Indian American Esha Chandra Kode won Miss Teen India USA 2019 title. She received the crown at Royal Albert's Palace in New Jersey. The 17-year-old is pursuing medicine and was trained in second degree black belt in Tae Kwando. Her parents Samatha and Srinivas are from Hyderabad, who migrated to the USA.

Esha aspires to be a top fashion model and movie star and academically pursue to be a pediatric surgeon. Narrating her story, she said, "I am a junior at a medical high school in Neptune, New Jersey.

My parents have settled in America for nearly 25 years now. I have a 10 year old brother and we were both born and raised in New Jersey and have always lived here.."

"I actually started doing pageants in 2016, when my mom signed me up for these events without my knowledge. She would paid the fees and told me that I had no other option, so I used to do these pageants forcefully.

However, eventually I started to develop an interest in these events and as a result gained a higher sense of self-confidence. For this reason, I wanted to try to be a part of the 'Miss Teen India Pageant' once again this year as I have grown as a person over the past two years and was lucky enough to be crowned!"

Giving her opinion on modeling as a career the beauty she believes that modeling is a way for women to show that they are resilient and proud of themselves.

"It shows that they completely embrace every aspect of themselves- both the strengths and weaknesses.

Modeling could also give me a huge platform to voice my opinions and bring about a better change into the world, which is one of the most important reasons why I want to become a professional model."

She spoke about her challenges, "The most challenging part for me was definitely developing the courage and self-confidence to be on stage amongst so many other well accomplished women.

I had to overcome my own personal fear of being judged by others, and essentially had to "fake it, till I made it". I have always grown up to be a rather timid and reserved woman, so entering pageant forced me to break my shell and discover a new version of myself."

The budding model shares her daily routine, "I am an early riser because I love waking up when no one else is awake, as it gives me some time to think and be alone, and possibly get a head start on the day.

I try to wake up at either 4:45 or 5:30am to get little bit of a workout incorporated into my day. Then I go to school and come back by 4pm. After that, I finish up homework and any studying I have to do for the night.

Some days I do have extracurricular, and sometimes I even have meetings or events that I have to attend.

I make sure I check my emails and any social media accounts to reply to anyone that has reached out. Finally, I try to spend some time with my brother before I go to bed."

She visits Hyderabad quite often, "As my parents are from Hyderabad, and most of my family still live there, I tend to visit Hyderabad quite often. I love meeting my family. I definitely do get spoiled by my grandparents and aunts and uncles while I am there."

About her future plans she says, "I want to use my reign as 'Miss Teen India USA' to bring more mental health awareness into our Indian communities.

In addition, I also have a deep passion and love for children, which is why I decided that I want to become a pediatric cardiac surgeon in the future.

Along with my medical profession, I also want to pursue modeling and possibly acting as my hobbies."