Miss New Jersey Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava becomes the first person of Mexican-Indian origin to be crowned Miss Teen USA 2023
A high school student and Miss New Jersey Teen USA – UmaSofia Srivastava, became the first person of Mexican-Indian origin to be crowned Miss Teen USA 2023 on Thursday night in a live-streamed event from Reno, Nevada, as reported by PEOPLE.
The pageant was hosted by Justin Sylvester of E! News, and featured judges including actress Emily Shah, founder of Kopu Water, Mindy Mahy, the first Miss Teen USA Ruth Zakarian, comedian Kae Cazorla as well as model Tabitha Swatosh.
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Srivastava was competing against 50 other competitors and Miss New York Teen USA Stephanie Skinner was named first runner-up, while Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA Maggie Ross was second runner-up.
The contest included many rounds of interviews, a costume contest, and preliminary rounds to last an entire week, before declaring the winner.
After Srivastava won the pageant she posted about her win on her Instagram account and captioned it as “IS THIS REAL??? I am so grateful and honored that I’m the first Mexican-Indian, first New Jersey, your MISS TEEN USA 2023!!!
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She continued, “This night is truly the best night of my life because I was crowned with the people that have loved and supported me throughout everything cheering for me in the audience.”
“The class of 2023 is truly so special. Getting to stand alongside each of my intelligent, impactful, and beautiful sisters already made me the luckiest girl in the world,” she added.
“I have so much more to say, but for everyone who believed that a girl like me could win, who had a kind word to say or thought to think for me this week, I am so so grateful. I’m yours USA!!!!”
Srivastava intends on becoming a UN ambassador and is already involved with Lotus Petal Foundation which works towards helping underprivileged children in India.
The talented teen has also written a book and writes blogs documenting her everyday experiences being a woman of color and has also collected thousands of books for the Bridge of Books Foundation.
Srivastava knows English, Spanish, Hindi, and French, and she was pleased and extremely grateful after winning the contest.
