Paromita 1st Bangladeshi in Miss USA
Oak Grove High School principal Wayne Folkes crowns senior Paromita Mitra (cq) the 2008 homecoming queen as she was escorted by Mico Bivens (cq) who is a senior defensive back on the football team. Photo: hattiesburgamerican.com When the Miss USA Pageant comes over the airwaves from Las Vegas on Sunday night, Hattiesburg resident Paromita Mitra will be front and centre as Miss Mississippi, reports hattiesburgamerican.com.
The 2009 graduate of Oak Grove High School will participate in the interview, swimsuit and evening gown portions of the competition, which will air live at 8:00pm Sunday on NBC. "I've prepared for this for so long," Mitra, 21, said. "I'm excited for this. I started in high school doing beauty reviews. I'm excited to represent the city of Hattiesburg." Mitra said she also was feeling good about representing Oak Grove High School. "Oak Grove High School and the education there has so much to do with what I am today," she said. Mitra is a first-generation immigrant from Bangladesh.
She came to the United States in 1992 when she was 1 year old. Her family later returned to Bangladesh, but moved to Hattiesburg permanently when Mitra was 5. A senior at Mississippi State University, she is studying aerospace engineering with a minor in mathematics. "My passion is physics and engineering and math," she said. "I would love to work with rocketry and spacecraft design. It's exciting." Mitra says she got her love of all things space from her family. "My brother and family were huge space enthusiasts," she said. "We would always go to the planetarium growing up." Mitra is an advocate for higher education and NASA's Science, Engineering, Math and Technology platform. She says her love and respect for education comes from her father.
"He was raised literally in a clay hut in Bangladesh," she said. "He has taught me that education is so important — that it is the only way to live the American dream." Mitra feeds her love of education through her participation in the MSU rocket design team, The Space Cowboys. "We launch, build and design high-powered model rockets," she said. "You work on a rocket all year and then you get to see your work fly." As part of the group, she has traveled to schools all over Mississippi speaking about rocketry and space topics. "You see kids get excited about learning," she said. And Mitra said being Miss Mississippi helps her get her message across.
"Kids really pay attention to you when you have a big sparkly hat on your head," she said. Mitra's whole family is in Las Vegas with her to cheer her on during the pageant. Her older brother, Amlan Mitra, 28, said they wouldn't be anywhere else. "It's a family event to take her to this level," he said. "She's an independent girl, but we're with her. She needs our support." Amlan Mitra said he has a lot of admiration for his sister. "We're very proud. She's such a go-getter," he said. "As an older brother, you're always wanting to be the role model, but she's a role model to me." Amlan Mitra said his sister has plenty of talents, but the family has had some input, too.
"As a family we coach her," he said. "We talk to her about life lessons and, hopefully, that will translate to a winner." Mitra may not get a chance to showcase all her skills during the pageant. She can speak four languages, has traveled in Italy on a study abroad program and is trained in piano, clarinet and drums. She has been in Las Vegas since May 31 attending photo shoots, costume fittings and rehearsals. "It's a lot to do with the actual live show," she said.
"It's incredible to see what goes on behind-the-scenes on live TV." Mitra wasn't worried about any portion of the pageant, not even the interview. As soon as she took her hair out of rollers, she was preparing to head out for the judges' questioning. "It's a good warm-up," she said.
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