It takes more than a pretty face and outgoing personality to be a Sigma Gamma Rho debutante, and the 11 who were chosen by the members of Beta Rho Sigma chapter included Nicole Tuck, an East High School graduate who taught herself to speak Japanese when she was 12 years old, and Millacynt Boldin, who started her own hair braiding and weaving business when she was in elementary school.
Tuck was named Debutante of the Year at the chapter’s 47th debutante presentation, held at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center; Boldin was crowned queen.
Tuck, who was active in East’s Robotics Club, also has a passion for drawing and “making things come to life” and plans to take the first steps toward a career in film by studying computer animation at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla.
Boldin, a graduate of George Washington High School, started MJB Hairstyles when she was in eighth grade, serving clients between the ages of 4 and 16. She plans to earn a degree in business management from Miles College in Birmingham, Ala., and then develop her own line of products that will be used and sold in her nationwide chain of hair salons.
Gretta Burroughs and Jerilyn Hitch-Fuller chaired the dinner event, where narrator Leisha Kiel also introduced others in the Debutante Class of 2011: Chenai DeBerry, Aujunay Domingo, Kenniese Franklin, Courtnee Jackson, Shauna Pierre-Louis, Rayonna Purvis, Shamika Quinnie, Bryaunna Rice and Brittany Thorne.
“It has been a real honor for me to be in something so beautiful as this ball,” Purvis said. A graduate of Eaglecrest High School, she will study biochemical engineering at Bennett College in North Carolina with the goal of “making medicines and finding a cure for lung cancer, which my grandfather suffered from.”
DeBerry, a graduate of Montbello High, admitted that preparing for the ball was “very stressful, but now that I look back on it, the preparations were the best part and I’m sad that it’s over. Our year went by much too fast.” She plans to major in computer science and minor in journalism at Fort Hays State University in Kansas.
“I’m a little nervous, but excited more than anything,” added Thorne, a graduate of Denver School of the Arts, as she and escort DeVaughn Alexander waited for the presentation to start.
Thorne plans to continue as a music major at the University of Northern Colorado and said she accepted the bid to become a debutante because she wanted to learn etiquette and become involved in community service. “It is important for me to mature into a proper young lady and be comfortable in many situations,” Thorne said. “And I also think it is important that people in the community see young people who are willing to give their time and effort in service.”
Read more about each debutante in my Seen First blog: .
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and GetItWrite on Twitter
