Miss North America Is A Lakewood Resident

LAKEWOOD, OH — Naiomy Vega-Miranda was crowned Miss North America after a four-day pageant in Orlando, Florida in June. The 10-year Lakewood resident said her title and newfound self-confidence are partly due to her experiences in Lakewood.

The journey from Puerto Rican transplant to Miss North America was one of discovery for Vega-Miranda. She did her first pageant (part of the Miss Puerto Rico program) on a lark in 2015, after a friend got flighty feet and wanted someone by her side in the contest. At the time, Naiomy was convinced she couldn't win. "I thought pageants were for tall, skinny girls. I didn't think I had a chance," she said.

Three years later, Vega-Miranda won the North American Beauty Pageant, earning the title Miss North America. How'd she get there? It took some luck and some help from Lakewood Schools.

Speaking Of Lakewood

Shy isn't a word one typically associates with beauty pageant contestants. After all, there's usually a fitness or swimwear portion of a contest, public speeches and appearances, and a degree of fame that comes with pageants. There's not a lot of space for excessive modesty or shrinking introverts.

Still, Naiomy is quick to describer herself as "shy." That's partly because she moved when she was young, and suddenly found herself in a foreign place that didn't speak the same language as her. It was an experience difficult to put into comprehensible words.

Vega-Miranda, now 20, moved to Ohio from Puerto Rico when she was about 10. Her family briefly settled in Cleveland, where Naiomy set about trying to learn her second language, English. Problem was, the Cleveland Schools didn't do a great job accommodating her, she told Patch, and the classes didn't seem serious.

The initial experience of being in a new nation, in a new state, in a new city, in a totally different place, was made all the more burdensome by the language barrier. Luckily, that didn't last long, because Naiomy's family found a new home in Lakewood.

In the Lakewood City Schools, Vega-Miranda quickly learned English and started taking part in community activities, like orchestra. "I’ve loved Lakewood since we’ve moved here," she said during a phone interview this week. She emphasized that she wants to show her Lakewood pride.

The sense of finding community, of helping weave the fabric of a city, imbued young Naiomy with a sense of place. It gave her a start toward self-confidence. Being able to speak English didn't hurt either.

That search for confidence and autonomy found its next outlet in pageants. After her friend convinced her to do the Miss Puerto Rico contest, Vega-Miranda was lovestruck.

"For me, it was mostly about self-acceptance," she said. "I wanted to tell myself that I could do better than I thought I could. A lot of people have thought "This is as good as I’m going to get." I wanted to tell myself that I could keep doing so much more."

Now, she's Miss North America.

The Future

Naiomy's wrapping up an associate of the arts degree at Cuyahoga Community College and weighing attending two four-year programs: Cleveland State University or Baldwin Wallace University. She's interested in a career in human resources.

While she said she'd be willing to move for a career, she's hoping to stay in Lakewood as long as she can.

Before any of that becomes an issue though, she has a year as the title holder of Miss North America and she wants to take part in civic events. It's her way of saying thank you, a dialogue between her and the city that taught her a new language.

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Photos from Naiomy Vega-Miranda and Harrison Productions LLC