LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Miss Kentucky 2025 Ariana Rodriguez has made history as the first foster care alumna to place in the Top 11 at Miss America, a remarkable achievement for someone who was living out of her car just four years ago.

Rodriguez, who entered her first kinship home at age 5 and foster care at 12, had 20 different placements between ages 5 and 18. Her journey to the Miss America stage began with a desperate search for scholarship money after discovering she was ineligible for tuition assistance.

“I was five years old when I entered my first kinship home, and I was 12 years old when I entered foster care,” Rodriguez said. “And then, of course, you’re handed the trash bag and really taken to a stranger’s house without anyone ever stopping to explain, you know, what’s going

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