Maria Derisavi has a community service initiative titled SeizeYourOpportunities, and June 21 in Hagerstown she did exactly that when she was selected as Miss Maryland.
The 22-year-old is the first Iranian-American Miss Maryland in the organization’s 104 year history, and the first from St. Mary’s County to win the award.
“I competed against 18 of some of Maryland’s [most] accomplished, community-driven young women, so it was really an honor to be selected among those really incredible girls,” said Derisavi, who also won Miss Teen Maryland USA in 2021. “I was shocked when I won, but of course so grateful. You definitely go into these competitions to win, but at least for me you never expect to win, you just hope for it but I prepared my best.”…