Beauty Of Times: Miss Earth 2010 Contestant - MISS AUSTRALIA EARTH 2010 - Kelly Louise Maguire's Photos & Profile/Biography/Interview

PERSONAL PARTICULARS

Birth name :Kelly Louise Maguire
Birth date: :(age 24)
Birth place :Sydney
Height :1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
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Hair color :
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BIOGRAPHY:

My name is Kelly Louise Maguire. I’m 23 years old and I live on the beautiful Northern Beaches of Sydney. I’m 175cm tall, and my measurements are 90-60-92cm. I was born and raised where I live at the moment, however have strong family ties in France, and I spent some of my former years at school in France also. I speak both French and English fluently. I am at university in Sydney pursuing a Bachelor's degree in journalism. I will complete my studies this next year and commence another degree in either International Studies or Law – awaiting finals results to see what my course options are for the next few years! I love surfing, swimming (of course!) and all snow sports. I also love travelling, meeting new people and learning interesting things from different cultures all over the world. My regular job is as a photographic model here in Sydney.

INTERVIEW:

I am proud to represent Australia as I have lived here all my life. Through my extensive travels I have seen some natural environments that have severely degraded and damaged through human existence (use and abuse).

Describe your childhood when you were growing up from 8 to 13 years old.

I was privileged enough to be able to witness my father in various environmental activities including campaigning to preserve our native bushland close to where our family home is. A property development company wanted to destroy the bush habitat of many local Australian native animals to build very big houses, and my father lobbied against this and managed to get quite a lot of media coverage. This was probably my biggest childhood environmental experience, however I do have others such as going on bushwalks, climbing Mount Kosciuszko (the highest mountain in Australia), travelling to New Zealand to go skiing and other fantastic family holidays. I also have fond memories of visiting wildlife parks and feeding the kangaroos, koalas and other native animals! We are very lucky to live in a beautiful part of Sydney very close to the beach, and I have always had an appreciation for the natural beach environment, and more than anything else I do love to go swimming and surfing, as well as just laying on the sand, enjoying the amazing place I am fortunate enough to call home. All in all I have been extremely lucky to have a supportive family that has always been happy for me to explore my interests such as swimming, music, athletics, netball, skiing, dancing and others – I would not be where I am today and I would not have been able to achieve all I have without my parents' support.

What lessons did you learn from your childhood/growing years?

I learned the value of family and how important it is to someone you love, to encourage them to do what makes them happy. Despite being very different people, I have formed bonds with various people as friends by also supporting them, and I believe that by talking and becoming friends with different people, we grow as individuals and become better people by expanding our horizons. I learned the value of our native environment, and through travelling in my early years I did discover how lucky I am to live where I live, and have the family that I have. Furthermore, I realised how important it is for all of the people who live in Australia to preserve our native environment, because the unique Australian wildlife is often endangered and we must do all we can to minimise our environmental footprint and protect the precious flora and fauna that is native only to our country. I learned also to challenge myself constantly by trying new things, and all of that combined is exactly why I am the determined and positive person I am today! By being taught from a young age to stand up for what I believe in (such as my father as a role model, particularly with the incident with the property developers) we can achieve success and become better and more strong-minded people.

What is your most memorable moment?

My most memorable moment was when my grandfather passed on. It is memorable in a tragic way that I will always find sad for the rest of my life, however it taught me that we have to seize the moment. He was an incredible person who dedicated most of his life and his time to charity – both with Surf Lifesaving Australia as well as the New South Wales Fire Brigade – and his selfless attitude was inspiring. Unfortunately I was only sixteen when he passed away so I did not fully appreciate all he did and what he lived for until a few years afterwards, but now that I can look back retrospectively I realise what an amazing individual he really was. He is always with me in spirit, and whenever I feel that something is difficult, I always imagine what he would advise me to help and it always makes me sure of who I am and the decisions I am making. It has made me realise how quickly life passes us by, and that to become a great person I must give all I have and try to be a good example for others, so hopefully I can leave a similar impression on my friends and family from my own experiences. I truly wish that there were more people on this earth like him, because it really would make this a more beautiful world to live in.

What is your environmental advocacy?

I particularly care about various aspects of environmental protection, and both are specific to Australia but could be equally relevant anywhere else in the world also. The first is water conservation, due to Australia being the driest habitable continent on earth. I have been advocating for a number of years to subsidise rainwater tanks for our suburban areas to reduce strain on our dam levels, and recently that has been supported by the state government of New South Wales, which is very exciting. I also encourage all of my friends to save water, because the worst offenders at wasting water are in my own demographic – young people that live in metropolitan areas of our major cities. The second issue I really wish to become more involved in is the protection of our native wildlife. We have always had problems of introduced species harming our native species such as rock wallabies and platypus – particularly rabbits eating their food supplies and domestic cats attacking small marsupials at night. I am spearheading a campaign for all people to become more responsible with their pets and to ensure they are not harming our natural environment!

PHOTO GALLERY