Catriona Gray

I loved numbers from a very young age. I feel like my mom led me there because, instead of giving me Game Boy and PlayStations and a TV, she gave me educational software on our family computer for Math and stuff.

We Filipinos bond over food, music, dance, and shares stories. And to Filipinos, no matter who you are and where you come from, you always have an invitation to celebration.

So many people look up to pageants, including young girls and young boys. The message that I would hate to send to them is that you're only deemed worthy of a title or worthy of recognition or of success if you fit in a certain number.

I work a lot in the slums of Tondo, Manila, and the life there is poor and very sad. And I've always taught to myself to look for the beauty of it and look in the beauty of the faces of the children and to be grateful.