The 17-year-old Chatham High School student’s feelings of excitement were replaced with deep disappointment as she heard just three weeks out from the grand final the company Face Of the Globe Ltd had gone into liquidation and dissolved.

Marylyn paid around $1500 dollars to Face Of The Globe. She won’t get $600 dollars back from her cancelled plane tickets and she also spent hundreds of dollars on clothing for the pageant’s activities and events.

Marlyn said she felt for the younger girls in mini and junior sections of the competition who have had their “dreams crushed”.

“Each and every one of us has tirelessly poured blood, sweat and tears into being the best versions of ourselves, while supporting some outstanding causes and throwing ourselves into our local communities,” Marylyn said. 

“This situation has brought the pageant community closer together and shows that what happened is not a true representation of the pageant community and we will not let this dull our sparkle.”

Marylyn has become a familiar face in the Manning community with contributions to Taree parkrun, Manning Youth Action Team (MYAT) and cheerleading at the PCYC. She said she received a huge amount of support from people in the Manning Valley. 

“It was more than I had expected and people were doing all that they could to help me along this journey.” 

At school, she is part of the debating and public speaking team and the school band. Her hobbies include singing, dancing, piano, cheerleading, chess, reading and HTML and CSS coding – a form of computer programming. She aspires to study biomedical science or engineering, where she is interested in finding a way to make cost effective limbs for people and children in war-torn countries. Despite the disappointing news, Marylyn believes she has already benefited from the experience.

“If I had the choice of whether to do it again, I would as I have grown so much as a person,” she explained. “The hours of volunteering and fundraising for causes I care about have all been worth it and I am proud to have represented Australia for the six short months that I did. I will continue with my events and charity fundraising as I have learnt that I do not need a title or a reason to do good in my community and country.”