From foster care to Miss Kentucky, UK student uses platform to give back

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 26, 2026) — The article below appears in the Summer 2026 edition of Kentucky Alumni magazine. Read the full article and more at www.ukalumni.net/s/kentucky-alumni-online-magazine.

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Ariana Rodriguez knows she’s one of the lucky ones.  

Rodriguez is Miss Kentucky 2025 and, as such, she’s been the spokesperson for the state agriculture commission’s Kentucky Proud initiative since last summer.  

As Miss Kentucky, she has worn the bejeweled crown and the satin sash bearing her title, visited schools, appeared at events, met with government officials and smiled often. In addition to her title, she received $20,000 in scholarship money from the Miss Kentucky Scholarship Foundation. 

This fall, at 21, she’ll be returning to the University of Kentucky to enter her junior year as a social work major. But that’s not why she’s one of the lucky ones. 

Although she grew up in an unstable environment in the state foster care system, she always believed she would have a better life.  

She’s not ashamed to tell her story: she lived in more than 20 kinship or foster homes between the ages of 5 and 16 and ultimately became homeless in high school, living in her car. Even then, she remained determined to go to college and, one day, work within the system that had raised her. 

Rodriguez is from Bardstown, Kentucky. Her mother suffered from addiction, and other family members couldn’t afford to help raise her and her siblings, and eventually she was separated from them. She graduated from Thomas Nelson High School, often balancing schoolwork with the uncertainty of where her next meal would come from. 

It’s not the kind of story most people associate with a pageant winner — but Rodriguez saw opportunity where others might not. Knowing that pageants offered scholarship money, she entered the Miss My Old Kentucky Home pageant in 2023. She didn’t win. 

Still, she considers herself lucky. After the pageant, director Kimberly Lile told her that if she wanted to pursue Miss Kentucky, she would help her. Lile created a Facebook fundraising page, and the effort raised enough money for Rodriguez to compete for two years, ultimately winning the title in 2025. Last September, she represented Kentucky in the Miss America pageant.  

“When I was filling out the Miss America application, it asked me for information on my parents. I don’t have that. I bring something different to the pageant world,” Rodriguez said. “Most people think of pageant winners as having privilege. They don’t see what they’re really going through.” 

Rodriguez made history as the first former foster care youth to serve as Miss Kentucky and to compete in the Miss America competition, where she finished in the top 11. In total, she has earned more than $30,000 in scholarships.  

Lucky, again.  

In her first two years at UK, before winning Miss Kentucky, she began sharing her purpose. She told friends she had been cutting up old clothes and making bags for foster children so they would have something other than a trash bag for their belongings. A trash bag was all she was given when she moved from one foster home to another.  

“I was studying with friends in the library, at Willy T., and we decided to start a student organization to sew bags and fill them with items foster kids need,” she said. They called the club The Lucky Ones. 

With the help of UK College of Social Work Dean Jay Miller — Rodriguez said his input was “pivotal” — the club has become a full-fledged, student-run nonprofit organization. The Lucky Ones provides suitcases for foster children filled with items such as hygiene products, blankets and stuffed animals, while also offering support, resources and a sense of community. 

Rodriguez wants foster children to know they are not alone and that their circumstances don’t define their future — a message she shared throughout her time as Miss Kentucky. 

“When I tell my story in schools, kids want to share their stories,” she said. “At every school I visit, someone comes to me and tells me what’s happening with them. I hope after they talk with me, the weight is lifted, knowing they can overcome what’s happening to them.” 

And, as luck would have it, Rodriguez says the College of Social Work faculty and staff support the passion and success of all their students. Coincidentally, Dean Miller was in foster care as a child, too. 

“There’s so much you can do with a degree in social work,” Rodriguez said. “You can help people in different ways. As a foster alumna, I know social work isn’t 9 to 5. UK does a great job of setting up social work majors for success. There’s a lot of networking and talk about self-care, mentally and physically, so by taking care of ourselves we can take care of others.” 

Her plans include working with youth in the foster system. She also wants to earn a master’s degree in public policy and work with policymakers. 

“I’ve always been a bit of a rebel,” she said. “And I’ve always been focused on learning and growing.” 

So who’s the lucky one?  

Support The Lucky Ones 

Help provide foster children with dignity, resources and a sense of belonging by giving online at the-lucky-ones.org or listening to The Lucky Ones podcast on Spotify.