Jeneene Guerrero
Jeneene Guerrero comes from a Latino background; her father, Leonardo Guerrero is Uruguayan and her mother, Lucia Escalante is Ecuadorian. Since she was three, she has participated in beauty competitions. With the support of her family, and especially her mother, she has won titles like Miss Princess, Miss Photogenic, Miss Hawaiian Tropic and many more. Her life was not solely about pageants; she also participated in dance competitions, events in her school and she would help out in her community through the Ecuadorian Association.
There is a saying that “not everything that glitters is gold”. This reality struck hard when, at age 14, she was diagnosed with Epilepsy and thought it might be the end of her modeling career. It was a hard adjustment for her and her whole family because they not only had to learn how to deal with her treatments, but all the social problems that came with her condition. She started getting bullied, both at school and by the different professionals her family sought for help with. At first, her parents didn’t understand her condition. They thought she was trying to get attention. She was sent to psychologists but got so nervous it would triggered more seizures. During one of her seizures, a psychologist yelled at her to “wake up” thinking she was faking it. Everybody thought she had a mental health problem. She had trouble keeping friendships and would get teased at school. Eventually, all of this chaos drove her mother to Epilepsy Toronto for help.
Despite having Epilepsy, Jeneene has stayed strong and she wants to help others who have gone through the same experience to help turn their lives around, just as she did. She has now returned to modelling and over the past two years has participated in the Toronto Miss Canada Globe Productions Pageant, directed by Mias Pilar. She was crowned “Miss Petite Greater Toronto Area” in 2012 and is currently “Miss Canada Charity 2013/2014.” These achievements have opened many doors for her in the Latino community and have provided many great opportunities both nationally and internationally. Soon, she will be competing internationally with other girls representing Canada and her Latino community. Her title has allowed her to share her story and encourage others to follow their dreams, despite the challenges they face. She wants other girls to understand that beauty comes from within and that a person does not have to be perfect to be beautiful; it is the way they act and the things they do for others that defines who they are.
Because of all the support she has received, she has started to produce her own events. This will be the second year for her event called ¨La Causa¨ since she has always believed that charity begins with one’s self and within the home. She also began a toy donation campaign for children living in a shelter called “The Yellow Brick House.”
Submitted by Anonymous
