MISS SOUTH FloRIDA SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION

Anastasia Valimaki, Miss Homestead 2020, is originally from Palm Beach County, Florida where she graduated from Suncoast Community High School in 2016. She attended the University of Florida where she received her Bachelor of Science, in Spring 2019 and her Master of Engineering, in Summer 2020, in Biomedical Engineering. Anastasia advocates for diversity in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics through her social impact initiative, Gear Up 4 STEM. Anastasia demonstrates STEM experiments and gives lessons to students both in-person and virtually. She hopes to encourage kids to pursue STEM and prove that STEM does not have to be intimidating. Anastasia has a unique talent: speed painting. She competes in the Miss America Organization with her 90-second painting performances. Anastasia goes through life with “sisu”, the Finnish word for determination, courage, and grit, as instilled by her parents who immigrated from Finland. Most of all, Anastasia hopes to be a role model to others proving that “molds are meant to be broken”.