Wayne native hoping to be the first Miss New Jersey to win Miss USA
DECEMBER 17, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015, 8:21 AM
AMY NEWMAN/
"This title has a lot of power and I want to use it for good. I want it to have purpose," says Jessielyn Palumbo of Wayne.
Jessielyn Palumbo calls herself a "gung-ho New Jersey girl." Which is fitting, considering she's the newly crowned Miss New Jersey USA 2016.
After competing three other times and placing in the top five twice, the 23-year-old Wayne resident finally won the Miss New Jersey USA pageant on Oct. 18 in Parsippany. When her name was announced, she says, "I wasn't sure if it was real."
This surreal moment kicked off her one-year reign as Miss New Jersey, which will culminate in her competing in the Miss USA pageant sometime next summer — it will be broadcast nationally on Fox; if she wins that, she goes on to the Miss Universe pageant.
New Jersey has never had a first-place win at Miss USA —a fact that only makes Palumbo more determined. "I want to be the first Miss New Jersey to win Miss USA," she says. She has help: a pageant coach, a personal trainer, a stylist and the directors of the Miss New Jersey pageant. To win, she says, "you need to be polished in every area."
Palumbo proudly dons her glittery sash and towering tiara for community and charity events. But sitting on her couch in jeans on a recent rainy afternoon, tiara-free, she could be any poised, well-dressed recent college graduate. She is tall — 5 feet 9 inches — with long, blond hair, that on this day is tucked into a sleek ponytail, accenting her angular features.
Jessie, as her friends and family call her, grew up in Wayne, attending Wayne Hills High School and graduating from The College of New Jersey in Ewing in 2014, where she studied digital and fine art. Palumbo says she loves New Jersey, choosing to stay in-state for college and be close to her family, including her 3-year-old niece, who cheers her on at pageants. Currently, she runs her own fashion and beauty photography business.
Although she competed in beauty pageants as a little girl, Palumbo admits that she wasn't a natural. "I was terrible at it," she says, laughing. She didn't seriously get into the pageant world until her older sister won first runner-up at Miss New Jersey Teen USA in 2009. This made her, at age 17, want to try it out, too.
Her friends and family were surprised at first. "I'm totally not a pageant girl. I was more goofy, I liked to make people laugh, and I'm very into the arts."
Still, she says, she got more out of pageants than she expected. "I've made a ton of friends." Plus, the competitions have given her the confidence and public speaking skills she needed to ace several important interviews, including getting into college and scoring internship opportunities.
But most important, she "learned that pageants are totally opposite their stereotypes." Pageant contestants, Palumbo says, are diverse, and "there's more to them than just a pretty face. They're smart," she said, and have varying interests and goals that go beyond the world of pageants.
"Pageantry encourages women to reach for the stars," she says. "With this title you can do so much. It's empowering."
Her real passion is art. A painter and photographer, she has interned with fashion photographer Fadil Berisha, freelanced as an online photo editor for Maxim magazine and has had her work published in Maxim and Gladys magazines. She hopes to one day become an acclaimed fashion and beauty photographer.
For her senior thesis project last year, Palumbo created a series of pieces that featured women in full pageant attire photo-edited to be interacting with versions of themselves pursuing their passions. A self-portrait features her posing in a gown juxtaposed with a casual version of herself next to an easel, paint palette and brush in hand. The pieces were purchased as a permanent part of the college's art gallery.
Palumbo hopes to make the most of the year ahead. "I'm proud of being from New Jersey for so many reasons. This title has a lot of power and I want to use it for good. I want it to have purpose."
Email: Gottfried@northjersey.com
http://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/hoping-to-be-the-first-miss-new-jersey-to-win-miss-usa-1.1475341
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