A BC Ambassador crown for Andrea Threatful

She might not have been one of the original three BC Ambassadors picked at last August's pageant, but today Andrea Threatful is living her dream after she was picked to succeed one of the ambassadors stepped down late last autumn. Here Andrea (center) poses with fellow BC Ambassadors Sidney Sankey of Quesnel (left) and Maile-Rae Hamilton of Lake Cowichan. Photo by Ernie Mitchell — the Kickin' Kiyote

Andrea Threatful was crowned as one of three BC Ambassadors. Photo by Ernie Mitchell — the Kickin' Kiyote

By David F. Rooney

She might not have been one of the original three BC Ambassadors picked at last August’s pageant, but today Andrea Threatful is living her dream after she was picked to succeed one of the ambassadors stepped down late last autumn.

“It’s very exciting,” said the 19-year-old Revelstoke girl who had placed in the top five during the pageant in Merritt.

Then, “at the end of November I received a phone call saying one of the girls had stepped down and I was offered the crown,” Threatful said.

“The personal growth opportunities are incredible,” she said.

Along with a $2,000 scholarship, which she will apply to her studies at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, Andrea will be doing a lot of travelling across the province over the coming months and will hone her already formidable public-speaking skills (Andrea was one of the top public speakers at the August BC Ambassador Pageant).

“I gained a lot of self-confidence through the Miss Revelstoke Ambassador Program,” she said. “I can talk in front of a crowd of people now. Before I was like everyone else — I’d get tongue tied and forget what I wanted to say.”

That’s not a problem now and that is one skill that will stand her in good stead in the future. Andrea wants to be a school teacher and public speaking is a must-have skill for anyone who wants to deal with a class of children.