Meet UC’s Miss Ohio

“I did not know I was going to win, so I started bawling. I was very excited and very taken aback,” she said.

The University of Cincinnati undergraduate heads to Orlando, Florida, in January to compete for the title of Miss America.

In December, she will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science from UC’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Finoti took part in UC’s Undergraduates Pursuing Research in Science and Engineering program, which encourages underrepresented students to pursue careers in STEM fields. Finoti worked at Cincinnati Children’s under Braxton Forde, a maternal fetal medicine physician and specialist.

“I love it. Medicine is my passion,” Finoti said. “It’s a rewarding field knowing that every day what I’m doing is directly helping my community.”

Finoti plans to enroll in medical school to pursue a career in pediatrics when she graduates this fall.

“Specifically, I want to become a neonatologist working with premature babies,” she said.

Finoti said she chose UC in part because of its multicultural campus and its dedication to equity and inclusion.

“UC is such a great environment. They highlight diversity and cultural equity,” she said. “I knew I would have the mentors I needed when I came here.”

She makes time each week to visit UC’s Campus Recreation Center, where she is a fan of its Zumba classes. She also became a certified cycling instructor there.

“It’s so fun! I love bike riding, but it’s hard to come up with a consistent routine when you can’t control the weather,” she said.

“Cycling classes are in a controlled environment that’s pumped and exciting. It’s filled with other excited students who just want to have fun in the class. But it’s inclusive so everyone can go at their own pace.”

The Columbus, Ohio, native is a first-generation college student and the first Latina to win Miss Ohio. Her parents are from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Her mom always loved pageants and first enrolled her when she was a preschooler. She liked them as well and won Little Miss Whitehall as a 4-year-old. She competed in pageants throughout her childhood, taking home Miss Whitehall as a teenager.

After competing in Miss Ohio last year, she returned to the competition in June as the reigning Miss Shawnee.

She took advantage of UC’s College-Conservatory of Music to hone her show performance by taking dance classes through its prep program.

“I grew up a dancer, so I’m familiar with being on stage,” she said. “That wasn’t the most nerve-racking thing for me.”

Finoti said the Miss Ohio Scholarship Program fosters a sense of sisterhood and community, so she felt the support of the other contestants.

“I knew how talented and well prepared everyone was and how any one of them could have been selected,” she said. “The other women were genuinely happy for me. It was the validation I needed that 26 other women had my back.”

Now Finoti hopes to return the favor by being a mentor to others who have their own hopes and dreams. For Miss Ohio, she developed a platform she called “That STEM Girl” to prepare and empower marginalized women to enter the STEM workforce.

Finoti received a Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation scholarship at UC funded by the National Science Foundation. The scholars program is designed to increase the number of historically underrepresented students who earn STEM degrees and pursue graduate educations.

As part of the program, she helped students at Cincinnati’s public Hughes STEM High School prepare resumes and brush up on interview skills to get internships with a nearby health system.

“I would like to serve as a role model for girls so they can see someone succeed not just in a tiara on a stage but in a lab coat in a science lab, too,” Finoti said.

Featured image at top: UC College of Arts and Sciences student Stephanie Finoti waves to the crowd after winning Miss Ohio. Photo/WMFD