Last week, Carino’s Café hosted a meet and greet for Ashley Ann Carino Barreto, who is competing to be Miss Universe, as part of Desle Puertorriqueno de la Florida (the Florida Puerto Rican Parade) in downtown Kissimmee.
As Ashley prepares to represent her community and culture in the Miss Universe competition, she reflected on her journey throughout the competitions she competed in.
News-Gazette: Tell us about when you started to where you are now.
Ashley Carino: I am originally from Fajardo, Puerto Rico. My parents moved here when I was five and a half years old, and I was raised here in Central Florida. A year ago, I competed in my first pageant, Miss Florida USA. I was fortunate enough to win. I participated in Miss USA, and I was second-runner up, and after that, I decided to compete for my country, which was Miss Universe Puerto Rico, and once again I was blessed and fortunate to win that competition. Now I am representing my homeland in Miss Universe (in January).
ONG: How do you feel?
AC: I feel blessed and fortunate. For me, it’s a dream come true. It’s something I’ve worked very hard for and having been longing for a very long time. It’s hard to believe, but I am very excited.
ONG: What do you have to say to all the young girls who want to compete and feel like they can’t do it?
AC: I am an example that you can if you believe in yourself. I competed in one of the hardest pageants in the United States on my very first try. I continued with my dream. I had my goal in mind, and that was to stand on the Miss Universe stage and represent my country, and I was able to do that. When you believe in yourself, and you have a dream you want to accomplish, anything is possible. You just have to not fear it and go for it.
The community supports Ashley Carino as she now prepares to compete — on the world stage in the Miss Universe pageant — in the same way it supports the Latin community and its culture that brings us together.
