Congratulations to Florinda Kajtazi from Yonkers, who recently won the Miss New York USA 2019 competition at SUNY Purchase. The 27-year-old was crowned by Genesis Suero and will represent Yonkers, and the State of New York, at the 68th Miss USA pageant.
Florinda Kajtazi is a 27 years old post-baccalaureate student at Lehman College, where she will complete her prerequisites for becoming a Physician Assistant.
She obtained her bachelor’s degree is in Forensic Psychology from John Jay. Florinda was born in Bronx, New York and raised in Yonkers, New York where she grew up with her parents and four siblings. She acquired a second degree black belt in Taekwondo alongside her two brothers and two sisters.
Florinda first gained her passion for volunteering, sports, and languages while attending Yonkers high school. She also managed to maintain excellent grades while being involved with so many extracurricular activities. She is especially passionate about giving back to her community.
She volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and assisted in building homes for the less fortunate in Yonkers throughout high school. Florinda is a native Albanian speaker and has studied French for five years. Upon completing her degree, she plans to further her education by continuing to a Physician Assistant master’s degree program, which she hopes to use in critical care as well as in the beauty industry. Florinda’s love for portrait painting has helped spark her interest in makeup artistry, as well as aesthetic medicine.
Growing up in the melting pot, that is New York, fueled her desire to travel and experience different cultures. Most recently, Florinda has travelled to Montenegro and Pakistan where she was able to experience different cultures as well as assist the less fortunate in rural villages. She hopes to continue traveling to different countries in hopes of continuing to learn about different cultures.
Florinda first became interested in pageants when a friend encouraged her to compete. She knew it would be a great way to push herself outside of her comfort zone while meeting new people from all areas of New York and creating greater awareness for all of her platforms. Pageantry has assisted Florinda in public speaking and instilling confidence, not only in herself, but also in her friends and family.
Florinda is working alongside her sister, who is a director at a nearby hospital, to implement a better program to help victims of domestic violence. She has grown to realize that violent households are both physically and mentally abusive. She wants to devote much of her life to providing support for and educating victims about the vast assistance programs available. Florinda is passionate about encouraging others to pursue their dreams and be confident in everything they do.
