NEWLY crowned Miss International Kylie Verzosa revealed she never dreamt of becoming a beauty queen but worked hard for her title.
In a TV Patrol interview on Friday, the 24-year-old shared that all she wanted was to become the best version of herself.
"Maging masaya lang, maging successful, to be the best version of me. Pero may mga goals ako, and one of my goals is to become Miss International," she said.
The Baguio beauty added: "I never thought I would pero dahil pinaghirapan ko ito ng todo-todo, nakuha ko padin yung pinangarap ko."
Verzosa said that it was her mother, an entrant in Binibining Pilipinas 1964, who inspired her to become a beauty queen.
She believes beauty pageants serve as a good platform for ones voice to be heard.
"I worked as a model. And if you're in the modeling industry, you always wonder what's your next step? And as a model, I always wanted to do more. I knew I had the voice, I knew I could do so much more," she said.
"Joining the pageant was a way for me to bring out what I really knew and what I really thought about. This was a way for my voice to be heard," she added.
Verzosa said that after winning the crown, she will dedicate her time in promoting cultural understanding among nations. The Filipina said she will do everything to fulfill her responsibilities as Miss International.
But when asked if she's open to joining show business or getting hosting jobs, Verzosa said she will just let life surprise her again.
"Everything that I have now was a surprise. Hindi ko pinangarap na maging model, hindi ko pinangarap na maging beauty queen. But I became a model, I became a beauty queen and now I'm Miss International."
"I've always said that the greatest things in life are life's surprises. You just have to learn to accept and received them," she ended.
Verzosa was crowned as Miss International 2016 in Tokyo, Japan last Thursday, making her the sixth Filipina to bring home the title. (Sunnex)