Sharon Nana Odoom Sarpong (SS) is a 22 year old travel and tourism undergraduate with a dream of becoming a tour designer and a part-time model. Sharon is the next Ghanaian generation full of intelligence, very elegant and fearless yet humble and God fearing.  Miss Sharon Sarpong won the 2009 beauty of beauties – Miss Ghana UK 2009 at the Troxy, organized on 7th November by Akwaaba Promotions.

It was a night of culture and elegance and a technically ‘a dress to impress’ evening. The beauty of the African nation was paraded in abundance and there were a lot of eye popping glances ‘in-the-house’! It was too busy a night to catch up with the newly crowned queen but we eventually met up with her at our studios

Oh Yes: Congratulations Sharon, you are Miss Ghana UK 2009!
SS: I know, I thank the good Lord, my parents, sisters, friends and family and the organizers.

Oh Yes: What went through your head when your name was mentioned as the winner?
SS: I was in a daze and was wondering why all my family were jumping up and down…until I heard contestant number 9! Again, then it hit me that I was the winner! Tears naturally started flowing and just said to myself…thank you Lord. I was so pleased

Oh Yes: Sharon, tell me, do you feel any different after winning this crown?
SS: I don’t think it has still sunk in yet. I am still my humble, respectful and private self. It will however be interesting and maybe weird when people start recognizing me after all the publicity, but one thing I know is that I will never be a typical ‘diva’. Miss Ghana? Yes I will be, but am always going to be Sharon Sarpong.

Oh Yes: What do you think made you win the title? Is there anything that you had that the others didn’t have?
SS: I believe it is my total commitment, willingness to work harder during rehearsals and my level of confidence on the day. I must say that all the girls were great on the night but there was always going to be only one winner.

Oh Yes: what is your role as Miss Ghana UK 2009?
SS: As Miss Ghana UK, I see myself a good role model for the Ghanaian youth in the country and especially the world at large. I also hope to be an Ambassador for Ghana in the UK supporting the Ghana High Commissioner whenever am called upon. In the long term I hope to be an established fair-trade Ambassador to promote the good work that Cadbury’s is doing with the Ghanaian cocoa farmers.

Oh Yes: What plans / projects do you have for the coming year?
SS: My main aim is to become a fair-trade ambassador in collaboration with Cadbury’s and set up a charity to benefit Ghanaian cocoa farmer’s children. I will also use my crown as a platform to get involved in several charitable events, because I think it is very important to give back to my community.

Oh Yes: Apart from Miss Ghana activities, what career path do you have?
SS: I would like to use my travel and tourism degree in different capacities, including tour designing. The tourism industry in Ghana has really transformed over the last few years. As a result, I think there is more demand for tailor made tourist packages. I would really like to set up a company that designs these types of packages. People tend to focus on Accra, because it’s the capital, but there are so many beautiful attractions all over Ghana.

Oh Yes: Finally, would you advise other girls to be involved in this beauty pageant?
SS: Definitely, it’s a brilliant opportunity. Before entering any pageant you should always have a personal goal, other than winning – this way you will never feel like a failure. Mine was to overcome my fear of being on the stage. No matter what the outcome was on the night - entering and performing on the day was always going to be a mini victory for me.

My advice to anyone entering this competition is: be prepared to work hard, because its a lot harder than it looks. Believe you me, the polished end result isn’t achieved easily!!!!

Thank you to Oh yes! Magazine for this opportunity, I hope to work with you throughout the year.

Interview by George Ameyaw