Janie Visser is not your average 20-year old.

Without any modelling experience, this second-year dietetics student at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University entered the Miss Deaf South Africa pageant and won two titles – First Princess and Miss Personality.

"It's a great honour to receive these titles, especially Miss Personality, since I strive to express my Christianity every day, and all my good personality traits are actually a reflection of Jesus' traits," says Visser.

Although this achievement means a lot to her, it is just a feather in her cap, as she has always been determined to achieve success. "Before the crowning I said to myself: 'Janie, you have already won, you don't need a crown on your head to achieve your dreams.'"

This beauty, who has bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and only has about 20% hearing, plans to use her new status to create awareness of, and improve education and access for, the deaf community. "I want to challenge the mistaken beliefs people have about the deaf and show them that we are just like them – our ears just don't work so well," she says.

For this Wellington inhabitant, the highlights of the beauty pageant that took place in Pretoria in October were her stay at the luxury hotel Forever Resorts, which also sponsored the competition, and the time she spent with other hearing disabled people.

"The difficult part was to make yourself look good every day. I'm actually a plain Jane, but if you want to represent a group, you have to make them proud and you should always look your best," Visser admits.

She plans to complete her BSc degree in Dietetics in 2018 and after that progress to a master's degree level before leaving to work overseas for a while. "I would like to get insight into how things are done in developed countries, and then return home to apply the knowledge and help advance South Africa."

For now, she is focussing on her studies and making plans to raise funds for the Miss Deaf South Africa pageant. "And I hope that my future husband shows up soon," she says jokingly. Follow her activities on: https://www.facebook.com/Forever-Resorts-Miss-Deaf-South-Africa-First-Princess-2016-Janie-Visser-621343591372325/

Photo: Janie Visser, First Princess at the Miss Deaf SA pageant, with the winner, Tashreeqah Khan, and the Second Princess, Bianca Bond.