Jasmine Vitacco

Background

Jasmine Vitacco was born in Arlington, Texas in 1992. She is the youngest of three siblings from an ethnically diverse background that includes her father Timothy Alfred Vitacco, who is of Italian and Australian heritage, and her mother, Lharmony Lamouth Vitacco, who was born and raised in Cambodia. Her mother, born of a Cambodian diplomat, came to the U.S as a refugee in 1975. Her mother lost both parents and four siblings during the Cambodian genocide. Lharmony then joined the U.S military and became an officer, received her masters in social work, and started a nonprofit to help refugees and immigrants from all over the world. Later her mother had the opportunity to go back to her home country for the first time since the genocide by obtaining an NGO position as a program director. Her job included helping internally displaced Cambodian citizens affected by the war to become economically self-sufficient. During that time, the whole family lived in Cambodia for a year when Jasmine was just three years old. Her father taught English to Cambodian elementary school kids and in the evenings taught adult classes. When the family moved back to the states, Jasmine had the opportunity to meet people from all parts of the world through her mothers nonprofit and helped teach English to kids of different backgrounds while growing up.

Education & Career

Jasmine was also inspired by her late cousin Sakal Kiv who was a youth pastor in Texas and later a missionary in Cambodia. In her high school years Sakal brought her and her cousins alongside him to serve on mission trips in areas like Saltillo, Mexico and New Mexico on an Indian reservation. When Jasmine graduated high school she knew her profession would be helping to serve others. So she pursued her Bachelors of Science in Nursing at Texas Christian University and received the Transfer Deans Scholarship for academic achievement. She also joined the first Asian/Asian-American sorority on campus called Kappa Lambda Delta Sorority where she had the opportunity to put together a fundraiser alongside her sorority sisters benefiting the Union Gospel mission of Fort Worth, TX. This organization helps the homeless population in her community. After graduation college she completed a two year contract as a new graduate nurse on a neurology telemetry unit at Harris Methodist Hospital. Then she moved to Los Angeles working on an Observation unit full time.

During the COVID-19 pandemic this past year, Jasmine has been working alongside the very best in healthcare and has had the privilege of working at her hospital’s Covid vaccine clinic and swab site. Her home unit was also one of the first units to initiate the monoclonal antibody infusion for qualified Covid positive patients to help them recover sooner. She is currently working on her Master’s of Science as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

Pageantry and Making a Difference

In 2020, Jasmine decided to compete in Miss California USA representing Northridge, California. She placed in the Top 15 as a semi-finalist. Her time as Miss Northridge was inspired by her visit to Cambodia. Her platform came to include encouraging young people to pursue their education and dreams.To support her platform she hosted a backpack/school supply drive with a local gym called Slim Body fitness with owner and coach Tommie Sykes. This drive helped to benefit the Family Rescue Center, an organization that holds an annual school supply drive for low income and homeless children in the Valley and provides many other resources to families in need. She also had the opportunity to speak with families of young students at the Northridge public library and met with a local aviation school called American Aviation that taught young people about flight.

This year she will be competing internationally at Miss Global 2021 and is honored to be selected to represent Miss Global Cambodia. She would like to inspire young people to pursue their dreams, education, and goals. She believes that no matter your background, story, or past challenges there can still be triumph even in tragedy and that the biggest thing we can leave in this world is making a difference in the lives of others.
 

After graduating college she returned to Cambodia with her family to experience it as an adult. During the visit her family explored one of the seven wonders of the world, Angkor Wat, in Siem Riep, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, and her grandfathers hometown in Kompong Thom. She learned so much more about her heritage from that trip but was even more inspired by the resilience of the people there. She also saw a need for access to education and child support in the impoverished areas. By the end of the trip her family decided to sponsor a young girl before coming back to the U.S.