H'Hen Nie (Vietnam)

H'Hen Niê (pronounced [həːhɛnnie] hə-HEN-nee-EH) (born 15 May 1992) is a Vietnamese model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Universe Vietnam 2017. She will represent Vietnam at the Miss Universe 2018. H'Hen was born in Đắk Lắk to Y'Krin Êban and H'Ngơn Niê. She is the third oldest out of 6 children. H'Hen used to work on a coffee farm to assist her family's living when she was young. As per the Rade people's matrilineal customs, Rade women tend to start a family at a young age. However, H'Hen refused to follow this tradition and decided to continue her studying at her own expense. In 8th grade, she started learning Vietnamese language. After graduating from high school, H'Hen studied a year at Nha Trang National Ethnic Community College before moving to Ho Chi Minh City to pursue the Business Finance program at the College of Foreign Economic Relations. She worked as a domestic helper for a year to pay the bills while she was in college. When H'Hen was doing her internship at a bank, she started receiving support to become a model. In 2014, shortly after graduating from college, she was discovered by the Vietnamese designer Đỗ Mạnh Cường at the start of her modelling career. As she gained interest in the industry, she auditioned for season 6 of Vietnam's Next Top Model in 2015 and became a finalist. She ultimately placed 9th in the reality TV competition. H'Hen entered Miss Universe Vietnam in 2017. During her time at Miss Universe Vietnam, she was recognized for her short hair and tanned skin, a contrast to Vietnamese beauty standard. In the finale, H'Hen Niê went on to win the competition, beating out first runner-up Hoàng Thùy and second runner-up Mâu Thị Thanh Thủy. Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza was a judge at the finale. When asked by a co-judge whom she would pick as the winner, Mendoza chose "the girl with short hair", which was H'Hen. As a Rade person, H'Hen Niê is currently the first and only Miss Universe Vietnam titleholder to be of an ethnic minority. In an interview, she revealed she had almost paid off all of her family's debts thanks to new opportunities after winning the competition. Understanding her roots and past struggles, H'Hen believes education is a key to break out of poverty, she donated 70% of her prize to providing scholarships to students in her old schools after the competition. She hoped her story could inspire young people to overcome their difficulties and continue to pursue education. Under her Miss Universe Vietnam reign, H'Hen rallies for support for the unfortunate, the elderly as well as HIV/AIDS victims. She became a global ambassador for Room to Read in 2018, a non-profit organization focusing on providing resources for girls' education and literacy programs. As an ambassador, she is fundraising to build a new library in Lam Dong and provide scholarships to girls in Asia and Africa so that they could complete secondary education and develop key life skills. She will represent Vietnam at Miss Universe 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand. In the months leading up to the pageant, H'Hen's training and preparation was documented and aired as a YouTube series called Road to Miss Universe 2018. The Miss Universe Vietnam Organization held a contest to find the Vietnamese national costume that H'Hen would wear for the national costume competition at the pageant. Six designs made it to the final round. After a nationwide vote, the top three designs were selected: Bánh Mì (inspired by the Vietnamese sandwich bánh mì), Phố cổ (inspired by the ancient town of Hội An), and Ngũ hổ (inspired by the Vietnamese heroines Trưng sisters). The winning design will be revealed at a later date. Growing up, H'Hen Ni chose to focus on education, which helped positively change a difficult childhood. She has tried her hands in several jobs such as a maid, tutor, leaflet deliverer, and model to help pay for her studies and life in the city. The Miss Universe Vietnam crown is not only the result of her hard effort, but also changed the definition of a beauty queen in Vietnam. If she becomes Miss Universe 2018, H'Hen Nie will use the influence of the title to continue helping disadvantaged children around the world to attend schools, especially in conjunction with organizations to enhance girls' lives in developing countries.