June 18, 2018
U.S.A.
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 13
Hmong woman to compete for Mrs. Minnesota title
By S.M. Chavey
St. Paul Pioneer Press
O
AKDALE, Minn. — As a child, Kellie Chauvin
was teased, bullied, and the only one of her
friends who was not invited to participate in a
local parade, all because other children called her ugly.
The teasing never ended, but Chauvin eventually
learned to overlook the shallow criticisms.
Now 43 years old, the Oakdale woman is competing to
be Mrs. Minnesota America 2018, the St. Paul Pioneer
Press reported.
“I just knew that for myself, I was better than what
people made me out to be,” Chauvin said. “I know it took
me a long time to realize that, but it’s never too late.”
She will face off against seven others this month in
Bloomington. If she wins, she’ll be the first “Mrs. Hmong,”
as she calls it, to score a victory in the pageant nationally.
One other Hmong woman from Minnesota is also
competing this year.
Chauvin was born in Laos in 1974 during a time of war.
In 1977, her family fled to safety in Thailand, where they
lived in a refugee camp.
Chauvin still remembers the challenges of being a
refugee. Their only possessions were the ones they could
carry on their backs. She watched people die from illness.
To this day, she avoids eating oatmeal because it takes her
back to her days at the camp.
After three years there, Chauvin and her family moved
to Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It was a cold October and
Chauvin had to wear a boy’s jacket because that’s all that
was available.
Even in America, Chauvin said, she felt like she was
still in a refugee camp.
Ten years old, she was placed in a kindergarten class
where she knew less about reading and writing English
than her younger classmates.
“They say ‘land of the free,’ but I still didn’t feel like we
were free,” Chauvin said. “We didn’t know English. My
parents didn’t want us leaving the house because they
didn’t trust the world. You land into this brand-new world
and you don’t know what to expect, and so we were always
kept inside.”
Chauvin’s parents found her a husband when she was
17 years old and they married before she turned 18. She
hardly knew him.
ORANGE CRUSTACEAN. A rare orange lobster is seen at an
aquarium in Boston. Workers at a Westborough, Massachusetts super-
market found the lobster in a shipment of crustaceans from Cape Breton
Island in Nova Scotia and donated it to the aquarium. The Lobster Institute
at the University of Maine said the likelihood of a lobster being orange is
about 1 in 30 million. (Emily Bauernfeind/New England Aquarium via AP)
“As a Hmong woman, if you’re not married by 18, then
your parents think that nobody will marry you,” Chauvin
said.
The couple had two children, and Chauvin said she
fought to make the marriage work. But after 10 years in
an abusive relationship, she says, she decided to get a
divorce and move to Minnesota. Her former husband died
shortly after.
Chauvin earned her associate’s degree in radiology and
took an internship in the emergency room of Hennepin
County Medical Center in Minneapolis. The internship
turned into a full-time position, and she stayed for 13
years.
It was at the hospital that she met her current husband,
Derek Chauvin. The Minneapolis police officer spotted his
future wife when he brought someone in for a health check
before an arrest. After taking the suspect to jail, Derek
Chauvin returned and asked her out.
“Under all that uniform, he’s just a softie,” Kellie
Chauvin said. “He’s such a gentleman. He still opens the
door for me, still puts my coat on for me. After my divorce, I
had a list of must-haves if I were ever to be in a
relationship, and he fit all of them.”
They’ve been married for eight years.
During that time, Chauvin resigned from the hospital,
17-YEAR CICADAS. Jin Yoshimura, a scientist from Japan who
travelled to Central New York to research the 17-year cicadas emerging
now, holds a nymph on June 12, 2018 in Onondaga, New York. (Glenn
Coin/The Post-Standard via AP)
Grocery store workers
find rare orange lobster
Rare New York sightings of big bug
draw fans from around the world
WESTBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Workers at a Massa-
chusetts supermarket have found a rare orange lobster.
Roche Bros. Supermarkets said in a Facebook post on
May 29 that workers at their Westborough store found the
lobster in a shipment of crustaceans from Cape Breton
Island in Nova Scotia.
It has since donated the lobster to the New England
Aquarium in Boston.
The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine said
the likelihood of a lobster being orange is about 1 in 30
million.
The New England Aquarium said the lobster is about
seven to nine years old. It said the crustacean is lucky to be
alive because its color was “flashing a neon sign” to
predators.
The lobster will either stay in Boston or go to another
aquarium in Japan.
ONONDAGA, N.Y. (AP) — Students from Japan and a
researcher from New Zealand are among the scientists
and hobbyists flocking to central New York for rare
sightings of a big bug.
The area’s cicada (sih-KAY’-duh) brood emerges once
every 17 years.
The Post-Standard says the eastern U.S. is one of three
places in the world with periodical cicadas. The others are
the Pacific Ocean island of Fiji, where cicadas emerge
every eight years; and northern India, where they emerge
every four years.
In New York, some of the cicada fans have congregated
at a farm and brewery in Onondaga, just south of
Syracuse. Several researchers recorded audio and video
as the cicadas’ call vibrated in the background.
A student from Shizuoka University in Japan, Hiroki
Hayashi, called the scene “wonderful and exciting.”
MRS. HMONG? Kellie Chauvin, age 43, is photographed in Oakdale,
Minnesota. Chauvin is vying to become the first Hmong Mrs. Minnesota
America. (Jean Pieri/Pioneer Press via AP)
attended Kaplan University for residential real estate,
and began working as a realtor with Re/Max Results.
Five years ago, Chauvin said, she wouldn’t have
considered signing up for a pageant.
So when longtime friend Sophia Xiong-Yang
approached Chauvin with the idea in January, she was
surprised to hear Chauvin agree.
“She is such a go-getter,” Xiong-Yang said. “I feel that it
takes someone who is very caring, compassionate, and has
a lot of empathy for others to be able to do the things she
does. It would be amazing if she makes Minnesota history
by being the first Hmong woman to win the title Mrs.
Minnesota.”
The pageant is split into four parts: a private interview
with the judges, a public interview, a swimsuit round, and
an evening-gown round. Chauvin has worked with a coach
to prepare for the interviews, but is most nervous about
walking in 5 1/2-inch heels.
“If I fall flat on my face, at least somebody will
remember,” Chauvin said.
Her evening gown is navy blue with a smattering of
sparkles — an homage to police officers.
“When I saw the dress, it was almost like it was in a
movie where the girl sees a dress,” Chauvin said. “I was
immediately drawn to it.”
Contestants in Mrs. Minnesota America are not
required to have an official platform, but they are
expected to be invested in their communities.
That’s easy for Chauvin, who said, “My hobby is just
helping people.”
And she donates to and volunteers with Hmong
Empowering Women, a nonprofit dedicated to helping
Hmong women who have recently arrived in the United
States find jobs, childcare, and a community.
“I dedicate myself to animals and children and women,”
Chauvin said. “That’s my passion. It doesn’t feel like work
to me.”
The Mrs. Minnesota America Pageant is held June 23 in
Bloomington.
“They’re looking for a contestant who can speak to
anyone and be approachable to other people,” said
pageant director Carl Schway. “Personality, vibrance,
ability to speak, and articulate. It’s almost like going to a
job interview and trying to win that job.”
Married women who are at least 18 years old and who
are United States and Minnesota citizens are eligible to
compete.
The winner will advance to the Mrs. America pageant,
which will be held in Las Vegas in August. The winner of
Mrs. America can compete in Mrs. World. Winners
typically make several public appearances, speaking at
events and continuing to give back to their communities.
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