Miss Universe Chile Antonia Figueroa reveals the surprising way she's physically preparing for the pageant

Antonia Figueroa, who is representing Chile in the Miss Universe pageant, has a degree in environmental civil engineering and can speak four languages.

Figueroa spoke to Fox News about competing in pageants, the surprising way she’s physically preparing and how we can take part in our communities.Fox News: How excited are you for this year’s Miss Universe competition?Antonia Figueroa: I’m very excited. This year, we’re promoting the "Green Agenda." As an environmental engineer, I’m very aware of the problems we are facing [concerning climate change]. So being capable to spread the word out on a major platform and what we should do to care for our environment - I cannot think of a better place to talk about these international issues. This is affecting our planet. We have very empowered women coming from every corner of the world [to raise awareness]. So I’m happy about that.

Fox News: Were you surprised that this year’s competition was taking place in Israel?Figueroa: I was very surprised. I never expected a place like this, not in a bad way. When we think about Miss Universe, we think of luxurious hotels or places by the beach. But of course, other places exist. But I was very excited to see a place like Israel, which is so important to history. It is very far from home, which is why my family couldn’t come here. But they are supporting me.Fox News: What cause are you supporting this year?Figueroa: I’m an environmental engineer, so I’m a big advocate for the environment. It’s what inspired me to pursue my profession. And this is an issue that affects everyone. Everyone has somehow been affected by climate change and the things that are related to it, like pollution. 

I want to let people know that everything we do has an impact. So we can either do something positive or negative. I think it’s so important to learn who we are voting for and what causes they support. And of course, try to call them out. They need to hear the people’s voices and their struggles.