Who Is Jessielyn Palumbo Today?

By Hannah Lee, Assistant Senior Editor

Wayne has always been a well-known town. It was featured in The Real Housewives of New Jersey and What Would You Do?. Now, Wayne citizens have another reason to be proud of where they come from: Jessielyn Palumbo. Palumbo was recently crowned Miss New Jersey USA and is in the running to become the next Miss USA. Believe it or not, Palumbo is an alumni of WHHS. She was the Captain of the Cheerleading Team and was very involved in SDA. Along with these activities, she started to participate in pageants starting from her senior year.

 

“I was seventeen. I did Miss New Jersey Teen USA. The first time I did it, I got third runner up. So, I continued to compete ever since then. My sister actually does pageants as well. She’s the one who got me into and really encouraged me to do it.”, recalled Palumbo.

 

In the beginning of the competition, she felt a sense of excitement because she’s done it so many times. Of course she felt nervous, but excitement definitely helped reduce the sense of fear.

 

“A lot of people weren’t sure if I was happy or not because I was stunned. My face, I had no emotion whatsoever. I had a blank stare. As soon as they crowned me, they handed over the microphone and they asked, ‘So what are you thinking right now?’. All I could say was, ‘Are you sure you called the right name?’. Then, I honestly started crying because I’ve been working so hard for this. It was just unbelievable.”

 

Congrats to Jessielyn Palumbo for finally achieving her the dream that she has worked wholeheartedly for!