(October 11, 2021) Shree Saini erupted in joy when her name echoed at the Miss World America headquarters in Los Angeles after she was crowned the Miss World America 2021, making her the first Indian American to achieve the feat. The 25-year-old scripted history and how. Her childhood dream of becoming a Miss World translated into reality, but not without her share of trials and tribulations.
Saini had to fight a rare heart condition and a near fatal accident to walk those last few steps on the stage towards the coveted crown. Here’s the inspiring journey of this Global Indian who braved her way through adversities to create history.
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A heart condition that put her dreams on hold
Born in 1996 in Ludhiana, Punjab in a traditional family, Saini moved to Washington in the United States at the age of five. Seeing the Miss World pageant on television, Saini was intrigued by the world of glamor and service at a very young age. She was just six when she dressed up as Miss World for her school event, and knew that this was something that she would want to become someday. But amid the starry dreams, life was set to take a U-turn for this young girl when she was diagnosed with a rare heart condition at the age of 12. Her condition caused led her heart to beat only 20 times per minute as opposed to the normal 70 times per minute. She had to undergo an open heart surgery where a pacemaker was inserted to help her heart function properly.
“That was a huge turning point for me. I was told that I couldn’t dance or play sports, and it felt like my life just stopped. I thought I would have to live on a machine. But I wasn’t going to let that adversity stop me,” she told Spokesman in an interview.
An advocate of mental health
While Saini was going through her health crisis, her days in school were equally nightmarish as she was subjected to bullying for years. She felt like an outcast at school for being a person of color. However, she didn’t let any of this affect her as she became an advocate of heart health and mental health. At 15, when her mother fell seriously ill and had to be put on life support, Saini decided to start her own NGO to help others, who were dealing with depression like her. Her difficult times helped her adopt a solution-oriented mindset, and that’s what kept her afloat all these years.
“My parents taught me about the ‘charity of spirit’ that means overlooking offenses and highlighting only the good in others. We should always try to defuse the negativity in any situation and focus on the light within all of us. Your life’s legacy is defined by how you make people feel, with each vibe/interaction/conversation and the positive difference you make in other’s lives in your lifetime,” she told India-West.
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With a pacemaker in her heart, Shree Saini had to bid adieu to dance for some time but she used that time to enroll in public speaking courses. “In elementary school, I began dancing in my living room. At that time, I didn’t have dance lessons because we lived in a small town of 2,000 people. In middle school, when we moved to a bigger town, I received a pacemaker, so I had to take years away from dance, but I used that time to enroll in public speaking courses. In high school, I officially started my nonprofit and found ways to give back at every fundraising and speaking events during weekends,” she added.
If she started finding solace in giving back, she also put on her dancing shoes after a hiatus to get back to something she loved the most. Two years after her surgery, Saini trained in ballet and was soon accepted to the New York City Joffrey Ballet, an offer she did not take up. Instead, she took a gap year, and spent some time in India travelling to Kolkata and Punjab. She later studied non-proft management at Harvard, acting at the Yale School of Drama, social entrepreneurship at Stanford and journalism at the University of Washington.
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A near fatal accident
Things once again took a hard turn for Shree Saini when during her college days she met with a near fatal accident. While driving on an icy patch in Moses Lake in 2016, her car skid off the road and rolled into a ditch. She wasn’t just extensively bruised but her face suffered partial burns. “I had to wear a giant hat and a face mask or my skin would burn because of the sun.” Seeing the gravity of situation, her doctors gave a year of recovery time but the 24-year-old bounced back strong in less than a month. “My parents really helped me in that moment of adversity. They told me to constantly choose resilience. And I think in our life, we are going to always, be met with hardships but what truly defines our life is our choices that we make,” she told ABC7.
Journey to stardom
A year later, she dipped her toes in the world of glamor when she participated in Miss India-USA and won the title. In 2020, she won the World Peace Messenger Award from Passion Vista. But it was in October 2021 that Saini scripted history by becoming the first Indian-American to win the Miss World America 2021 title. “I am happy and quite nervous. I can’t express my feelings (in words). All the credit goes to my parents, especially my mother because of whose support I am here. Thank you Miss World America for this honour,” she said in a statement.
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She also holds the position of Miss World America National Beauty with a Purpose Ambassador, something she earned by working tirelessly to help those less fortunate and in need. Among her many accomplishments, her work has been recognized by UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, Susan G Komen, and many others.
Shree Saini has fought many adversities to reach the top and is the perfect example that anything is possible if you are determined to persevere.
