Tawnya Rampersad represented Toronto at Miss Teen Canada Petite competition

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Scarborough's Tawnya Rampersad drummed her way to a second-place finish at the Miss Teen Canada Petite competition.

The 16-year-old was named first runner-up in the Aug. 10 pageant, her first. There were 32 girls competing from across the country over three nights of events.

"I was nervous," Rampersad shared a few days after the results were announced.

The soon-to-be Grade 11 student at Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute said she loves acting and was involved with an agency that submitted her photos to the pageant organization for an audition for Miss Teen Toronto. She was surprised when she received the call to audition for that title, but she did her best and it paid off.

"When I got the call they asked me to represent Toronto," Rampersad said. "I was really excited."

That excitement was followed by a lot of training beginning in February to prepare for the national competition where she would represent the city.

"Every Sunday we'd go to a dance studio and we'd practise walking and answering questions and learn to put on pageant makeup," Rampersad said.

That "walking" wasn't your run-of-the mill one-foot-in-front-of-the-other kind of walking: "It was learning to walk in four-and-a-half-inch heels," she explained.

They also had to learn choreography and how to walk in their evening gowns and swimsuits.

For Rampersad, the interview portion was what she was most nervous about.

"The hardest part was definitely the on-stage interview," she said. "I was just standing there nervous."

Her final question was, "What does success mean to me?" Rampersad doesn't remember her answer exactly, but to her, success means getting what you want when you want it by working hard.

She did have fun during the competition, especially when she got to show off her talent: drumming. She rocked out to Fallen Leaves by Billy Talent. In addition to her runner-up status, Rampersad won Miss Teen Talent and Miss Teen Photogenic.

Her family was supportive of her endeavour.

"My mom was surprised because with our family luck we don't get a lot of opportunities like this," she said.

Rampersad is looking forward to future opportunities. As part of placing runner-up she believes she gets to compete in an international competition. She said it might be Hong Kong.

"I was so shocked. I was hoping we get to see the Great Wall of China."