'They were all laughing at my name; but when I stood up, they fell silent'

CEBU, Philippines - The awaited guest of the evening was introduced, and out came Shamcey Supsup who sauntered out of her holding area towards the presidential table for her press conference at the newest Coffee Dream branch in Banawa. Instead of immediately warming her seat like most celebrities do, the 25-year-old placed a hand in her wisp of a waist, flashed her megawatt smile left and right, and let the photographers flash away and do their thing for a good few minutes. One month in, she already knew the drill.

In her whirl of appearances since doing the Philippines proud by landing Miss Universe third runner-up, Shamcey found herself in Cebu last Monday, October 24, for Coffee Dream’s 15th year anniversary, where she cut the ceremonial ribbon at the homegrown coffee shop’s Arcenas Estate hang-out.

She revealed that it was here in Cebu where she spent a three-day vacation before leaving for Miss Universe in Brazil. Though not very fluent in Visayan, the General Santos City native said she understood the dialect very well.

Years ago, Shamcey was known more for her stoop (she purposefully bent down so her 5’8" slender frame wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb) than her now signature tsunami walk. It was a request from her taskmaster of a mother to hang her hard hat (temporarily) for a crown that forced the nerdy Shamcey to stand up tall, start getting comfy with high heels and say goodbye to her sneakers-jeans-shirt uniform.

Her civil engineer of a mother couldn’t have been more right in pushing her only daughter to venture out of her comfort zone.

But the limelight sure isn’t blinding Shamcey. Like her earlier pronouncements, her dreams of pursuing a master’s degree, taking on a teaching career, and building her own architectural firm are still very much intact. In fact, it’s those questions about architecture, her studies and student days that get the beauty-and-brains chattier than usual.

They can all mock and subject her last name to a butt of jokes all they want, but the last laugh is on Shamcey, who need only flash her winsome smile for the rest to realize that this stunner is no laughingstock. (FREEMAN)