GO & DO
Miss Bakersfield Morayo Olujumu plans to compete for Miss California this year.
Road to the crown
Miss Bakersfield reflects on her journey to prepare for Miss California competition By Julie Mana-ay Perez
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MORAYO OLUJUMU’S JOURNEY TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE BEGAN WHEN SHE WAS CROWNED MISS KERN COUNTY IN 2019.
Olujumu was born and raised in Palmdale and attended Cal State Bakersfield for her bachelor’s degree in business administration. She said she made the decision to move to Bakersfield because she wanted a hometown feel. As a first generation Nigerian American, Olujumu said it was important for her to make a difference wherever she stepped foot. “I come from a low-income family, so I wasn’t always able to do every extracurricular activity I could do and I al-
ways dreamed of competing in a pageant,” she said. “Every time I go back home, I see how these humanitarian issues affect the country and our status quo as a world.” In 2019, Olujumu went on to compete for her first beauty pageant and won the title of Miss Kern County. And in 2020, Olujumu went on to compete for Miss Bakersfield USA and won the title, too. “It was a learning experience. I didn’t have a chance to compete in pageants before so I went in on the lowest budget I could. I didn’t have a pageant coach, but I got so many sponsors. My best friend coached me so I had to pull in all my resources, but I left home with the title,” she said. » See more of Miss Bakersfield on PAGE 56.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MORAYO OLUJUMU
www.BakersfieldLife.com
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