Florida Latinas Showcase Their Beauty and Brains During Miss Latina US and Miss Teen US Latina Pageants
Florida Latinas will compete with Twenty-eight Latinas from around the United States for the crown of Miss Latina US and Miss Teen US Latina during the 2009 National Pageant Finals taking place in San Antonio for the first time. Representing Florida State, our state pageant delegates will arrive Friday, September 26 for preliminary competitions and activities, culminating on Sunday, September 28 with their presentations in national heritage dress, swimsuit, fashion wear and evening gown at the Jo Long Theater for the Performing Arts.
September 2008 -- Turn For The Judges
TFTJ Winner's Court
Celebrating the winner's from across the globe.
Samaria Martinez
Miss Florida Latina 2008
Samaria Martinez was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba and immigrated at the age of sixteen along with her family to the U.S.A. Because of her personal experiences she decides take up a career in the world of the business by entering Miami Dade College in order to study this subject.
As a child, Samaria was an avid participant of the arts of singing, performing, dancing and being master of ceremonies at various school events. However, it was not until arriving to the U.S.A. that her dream of becoming a beauty queen became a reality.
For Samaria the world of the arts and modeling is not everything. Her goal is to continue her studies in order to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in International Business. Her ambition is to become an important executive of a mayor company. Samaria’s favorite authors and books reflect her enthusiasm in business, since she prefers to read books by Robert Kiyosaki and Walter Riso.
Samaria is bilingual in English and Spanish. She combines her studies with a job as a stock broker assistant and her commitments as Miss Florida Latina. Her pastimes include listening to ballads, dancing salsa “casino style” and belly dancing, learning about new places and their history and enjoying the company of her family.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TFTJ Winner's Court
Celebrating the winner's from across the globe.
Saydelis Rodriguez
Miss Teen Florida Latina 2008
Sixteen year old Saydelis Rodriguez of Tampa is the new titleholder of the Miss Teen Florida Latina 2008 pageant. She is of Cuban heritage and lives in Tampa, Florida.
Saydelis is a High School Sophomore at Leto High School who majors in Criminal Justice and Law. She is also an Honor Roll student, who has received awards for her work in Math and Language Arts courses, medals for her participation in the school’s chorus and recognitions for Flamenco Dancing and Color Guard.
Among her ambitions are to enter Law School in order to combine a legal career with a career in modeling, to become a wife and mother to three children someday and of course to become the next Miss Teen Latina US. "My platform would be to advise young Latinas to follow their dreams and reach for the sky because if you don’t believe in yourself no one else will.”
Saydelis who is fully bilingual in Spanish and English, plus is learning French and Sign Language, is proud of her Latina heritage and attributes in part her success in being crowned Miss Teen Florida Latina to the support of her family. “The best part about being Latina is having a family that will support you. I feel so blessed to have a family that cares about me and has always something positive to say.”
Saydelis pastimes include spending time with her family and friends, going boiling, roller-skating and talking on the phone with the person she admires the most; her brother Sanders, who is currently serving his country overseas in the military. “Sanders has taught me that you have to appreciate what you have in life, because someone out there may have less than what you have or may be in worse conditions than you. We are so lucky here in the US to have education, food, shelter, water and other everyday things that we might take for granted. If I was chosen as Miss Teen US Latina I would like to tell young adults everywhere to appreciate life’s gifts and everyday moments.”