{"id":121894,"date":"2023-01-15T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2023-01-15T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894//?p=121894"},"modified":"2023-11-09T08:59:27","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T13:59:27","slug":"getting-to-know-miss-usa-hopeful-ucfs-ashley-carino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894//getting-to-know-miss-usa-hopeful-ucfs-ashley-carino/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894//","title":{"rendered":"Get to Know Pageant Winner, Miss Universe Contestant: UCF’s Ashley Cari/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u00f1o"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growing up, Ashley Cari/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u00f1o was just as likely to watch an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as she was a Miss Universe pageant. She dreamed of working for NASA and wearing the Miss USA crown./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n

The 27-year-old is now well on her way to achieving both goals./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n

Cari/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u00f1o, an aerospace engineering student at UCF, won the title of Miss Florida in July 2021 /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u2014 which was the first pageant competition of her life. She went on to place third in the Miss USA competition held Nov. 28, 2021. Last year, she won the Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2022. On Jan. 14, she placed in the top five at the Miss Universe pageant./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201cThis was something that for a long time I didn’t think I could do,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201d she says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201cAnd when I won [Miss Florida], I realized that I’m just as capable as anyone. Every woman is powerful, and every woman can accomplish whatever it is they set their mind to./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201cThis was something that for a long time I didn’t think I could do. … Every woman is powerful, and every woman can accomplish whatever it is they set their mind to./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n

Cari/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u00f1o was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Kissimmee when she was 5 years old. She was drawn to science and astronomy for as long as she can remember, and took up robotics and architecture in high school./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n

She attended Valencia College before transferring to UCF in 2019 through the DirectConnect to UCF program, where her younger sister Joyce also studies biomedical sciences as an aspiring doctor./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n

Although she likely will have to take a hiatus from her final year of studies because of her duties and responsibilities as Miss Florida, she is committed to finishing out her degree, where she is focusing on design and propulsion./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201cAerospace engineering is something that I’ve always dreamed of doing, and I plan on doing so. I would love to work with a company like SpaceX or NASA,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201d she says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201cI don’t care how old I am or how long it takes /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u2014 I’m going to finish my degree./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n

Cari/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u00f1o shares more about her background and reflects on her first win, which has propelled her to continue competing in the pageant circuit./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n

Take us back to the moment when you realized you won Miss Florida. What did you think and feel?/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n

I could literally hear my heartbeat in my ears. I was so nervous. I was telling myself, /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201cOK remember, Ashley, if they call Shakira/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u2019s name, that means you won/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201d /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u2014 it’s confusing because they announce the runner-up/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u2019s name first. So I was just repeating that to myself. And when he finally didn’t call my name and he said Shakira/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u2019s name, it took me a moment to realize, /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201cWait. You won /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u2014 you/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u2019re the winner./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/u201d I was definitely in shock. I couldn’t believe it./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/121894/n