Miss Norway

Kirby Ann Basken

What are your interests and what do you enjoy doing the most?
My interests include dancing, climbing, skating, reading, writing and sharing good times with friends and family. Traveling is what I enjoy doing the most. I love being exposed to new cultures and meeting new people.

What is your career ambition?
At present, I am a model and a TV-host on interactive tv, but ultimately I would like to work my way into the television networks and have my own talk show. I also have a passion for helping teenagers move beyond obstacles. So I haven’t discarded my dream of working as a clinical child and adolescent psychologist one day.

Describe where you were raised and what your childhood was like.
I was raised in a bilingual and bicultural family in Oslo, Norway. I'm half Norwegian and half Filipino. My mom is Filipino (with Chinese blood as well) and my dad is Norwegian. Because I'm bicultural, I'd like to think that I have the best of both worlds. I get to experience certain elements of both worlds that I wouldn’t necessarily have experienced otherwise. Growing up with two cultures has helped to shape my identity and made me the woman I am now, secure and confident with the thought that I'm able to relate to both races as well as their cultures. I feel that I understand both Western and Eastern culture enough to be sensitive and sympathetic to the issues pertaining to these cultures. My parents got divorced when I was 3. They have both remarried and are still happily married with their chosen spouses. I grew up with my mother and my stepfather who cared for me as if I were his own. But I have a very close relationship with my father as well. I have a younger brother (10) whom I adore so much, a stepbrother (19) who looks up to me and a stepsister (29) whom I look up to.

What do you want the judges to know about you?
I want the judges to know that I’m very excited to be in this pageant for three reasons. First of all, since not all the delegates would be able to travel to my country anytime soon, I can’t wait to bring my country to Mexico and have the rest of the world experience its beauty and generous spirit through me. I’m sure I will achieve lots of memorable learning experiences from this pageant, so I’m going to be myself, enjoy the experience, and make many new friends. Secondly, I’m proud to bring both my Western and Eastern heritage to this pageant. Since a beauty pageant like the Miss Universe pageant creates role models that young people look up to, I hope that my participation will encourage them to take pride in their bicultural heritage, build self-esteem, dream big and stay focused on their dreams and goals because they can be whoever and wherever they want to be. As my grandmother said, “If you can dream it, you can do it”, and I’d like to pass this on to them, because right now, I AM living my dream - I am in the Miss Universe pageant! Thirdly, if I get so lucky to win the Miss Universe title, I won’t be only taking home the Miss Universe crown for the second time in 17 years, I’d also be able to show the world that the woman who’s wearing the Miss Universe crown is a woman of drive and grace, intelligence and commitment, substance and style. Finally, I want the judges to know that I would make an excellent Miss Universe. I’d like to think that I have managed to combine two very different cultures. My double heritage has made me a tolerant, understanding and generous young woman who can relate to both Western and Eastern cultures and encounter every situation and obstacle in life with an open mind, belief in myself and sincere interest in people. I believe this is something the world crucially needs to see these days. In my travels to Asia, I’ve witnessed the realities of poverty up close and I’ve seen children growing up alone and getting robbed of their childhood because of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, drugs, sexual violation and the subordination of young women. I’d like to raise money to give these children a chance in life. I feel very fortunate to be living in Norway, the world’s top-rank foreign aid donor, because it could give me the much needed resources to help these children. But with a Miss Universe title, I know I would be able to make a difference in their lives on a grander scale because I would be able to work with charitable organizations on a global scale.

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