The Review

Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: Mosaic

Delaware Today magazine." SRC="http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper781/stills/u820b37a.jpg" > Media Credit: Vincenza Carrieri-Russo Miss Delaware U.S.A. Vincenza Carrieri-Russo (left) was recently named one of the "People to Watch: 40 Under 40" by Delaware Today magazine.

For most people, a trip to Las Vegas means bright lights and casinos. But for Vincenza Carrieri-Russo, the current Miss Delaware U.S.A., a trip to Vegas meant getting to compete in the nationally televised Miss U.S.A. pageant.

"I had so much fun," Carrieri-Russo says. "I was having the time of my life."

The excitement didn't end after the pageant. Carrieri-Russo came home to find she was named one of the "People to Watch: 40 Under 40" by Delaware Today magazine.

Carrieri-Russo was both surprised and pleased to hear about the recognition.

"I was just getting back to reality, and then I come home to this," she says.

Carrieri-Russo, born and raised in Newark, is a 23-year-old university student pursuing a career in broadcast journalism. However, she decided to take a year off from school when she won Miss Delaware USA so that she could focus on the title.

Carrieri-Russo was among many candidates for the "40 Under 40" feature. The winners were selected by Matt Amis, author of the feature.

"We wanted to key in on people who would be representative of the state," Amis says.

He says they were careful to incorporate balance in the feature by including men and women from upstate and downstate Delaware. They made sure to integrate people of various ages, professions and ethnicities. Amis says the purpose of this balance was to be sure that anyone who reads the article will be able to find someone who will appeal to them, or someone to whom they can relate.

Amis says the people of Delaware Today were very impressed by Carrieri-Russo.

"She has tons of charisma, and she works so hard," he says.

Even more prestigious was the fact that she was featured on the cover of the issue.

"One thing we always like to do is promote our local celebrities," Amis says.

Laura Moss, Carrieri-Russo's business manager, says her accomplishments and approachability give her a uniqueness that makes her worthy of being named in the "40 Under 40." Though she hasn't graduated from college, Carrieri-Russo has developed a long list of achievements, which include the Outstanding Young Wilmingtonian Jaycees Nominee in 2007, the National Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Service Benefiting a Local Community in 2006 and Delaware's Representative to the National Jefferson Awards for Outstanding Community Service in 2006.

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