Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine January 2020 | Page 92

Odessa likes to define herself as
an ambitious and goal-oriented
woman who takes a leap of
faith and jumps into every
opportunity that faces her.
She is highly dedicated to her
parish, St. Mark’s, to her family,
to her country Grenada, and
to developing the community
and enhancing the talent of the
youth.
With a desire to inspire,
lead and make a difference
in her community, Odessa
established the Building Lives
Around Special Talents (BLAST)
program. This program seeks
to foster and encourage young
people to utilize their talents
for the greater good. Some of
the activities involved in this
project are children’s pageants,
talent competitions, workshops,
and expos. Odessa lives by and
preaches the philosophy of:
“Hard work beats back talent,
when talent fails to do hard
work.”
When asked about her Miss
OECS Pageant experience, she
said: “The Miss OECS pageant
turned out to be a surprisingly
amazing experience. It was
my first regional pageant
and like everything else, took
a lot of sacrifices. Despite
encountering many challenges
and a minor injury, I was able
to overcome it all with the
help of my chaperone and
fellow contestants and their
chaperones. I took away so
much from this experience,
including the long lasting
friendships that were built.
Another highlight of that night
was the evening wear section
with a gown entitled “Sun
Kissed” designed and made by
Blushing Divaz owned by Mr.
Kirk Seetahal.”
As a role model on her island,
the ambitious Odessa advises
young people to work hard:
“Nothing in this world comes
easy, you need to be dedicated
and persistent, but never limit
yourself and your true potential.
See your life as Play-Doh and
create whatever you want for
yourself.”
“I am all about leaving a
positive mark on people’s
lives and in this world,
and [participating in the
Grenada Carnival Queen
show] was the perfect
opportunity to venture
on my mission and start
plastering my name in the
history books and touching
lives in a positive way.
With the OECS Pageant,
it was really a great
opportunity to continue
not only on my personal
venture, but this time I
got to showcase and to
proudly represent my
country, Grenada.”
~ Odessa Merryman
2nd Place
Miss OECS Pageant 2019
About Odessa’s island of Grenada
“Although we bear several
similar attributes to other
islands such as warm sparkling
beaches, lush vegetation and
friendly, God-fearing people,
there are several defining
factors that can differentiate
my island from the rest of the
Caribbean.
1: We are known as the Isle of
Spice for this reason: Grenada
is the only nutmeg producing
island in the entire Caribbean. In
fact, we are the second largest
producer in the world behind
Indonesia. In addition, Grenada
is home to the world’s first
underwater sculpture park and
boasts of the oldest functioning
water-propelled distillery in the
Caribbean at the River Antoine
Rum Distillery.
2: Our resilience is second
to none. Not only have we
survived many atrocities, we
are the only English speaking
island in the entire Western
Hemisphere to successfully
stage a bloodless revolution
lead by the legendary hero,
Comrade Maurice Bishop, the
people’s liberator.
3: Who can forget the most
unique carnival in the world,
Spice Mas, home of the 100,
000 original Jab Jabs. It is the
only carnival where you would
find the authentic Jab Jab-no
imitations, clothed with oil and
black as a starless midnight.
Our uniqueness is like natural
resources, in that it cannot be
exhausted. We are the only
country in the OECS who can
boast of having an Olympic
400 meter gold medalist in the
person of the humble Kirani
James, and to close off, Grenada
continues to create history in
2019 when we became the
only island outside of Trinidad
and Tobago to capture the
International Power Soca
Monarch title by our very own
Mr. Killa.
“I strongly urge you to come
and experience first-hand what
Pure Grenada has to offer.”
~ Odessa