As Miss New Jersey International, This Engineering Student Is Using Her Platform for Advocacy
Asmi Kaushal, who aims to enhance educational equity, is competing for an international pageant title in July
For all the glitz and glamour of the pageantry world, it was the opportunity of having a soapbox to share her cause that caught Asmi Kaushal’s attention.
The Sayreville, N.J., resident, who just completed her sophomore year at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, was crowned Miss New Jersey International, her first pageant, in early March. Kaushal, who attends the School of Engineering, will represent New Jersey in July when she competes for the international title in Kingsport, Tenn., on July 24 and July 25.
In her role as Miss New Jersey International, Kaushal said she is using her platform to advocate for enhancing educational equity, aiming to help first-generation students and others negotiate the high school and college admissions process.
“This is a fabulous country and, just like they say, a country of opportunities,” said Kaushal, who was born in India and moved to the United States with her parents at age 6. “You get the best education here. But many students don't know how to make their college applications shine, what AP classes to take or which extracurriculars to pursue.”
A Sayreville War Memorial High School graduate, Kaushal said she seeks to help students “who are not familiar with the American school system, something that many initially faced when I had come here to school.”
As the first in her family to attend a U.S. university, the 19-year-old said “a lot of students don't realize that there's so much more to do in education than just the academic portion. There are extracurriculars, there are volunteer opportunities, there are internships – and these students who don't have parents from this country don't really know how to navigate the competitive landscape of high school. So, I basically help those students out.”
A lot of students don't realize that there's so much more to do in education than just the academic portion.
Asmi Kaushal
Rutgers-New Brunswick student
To this end, she has provided free workshops at her high school and online on Advanced Placement-course selection, summer classes, volunteering opportunities and extracurricular activities. She also plans to develop a program that can assist high school students by pairing them with college students pursuing the same majors.
The critical goal is to assist any student, chart a higher education path and, hopefully, “get into their dream college.”
“There's a lot that you need to know when you are going into college applications, competing with students who've been living here forever, who have parents who studied here,” she said.
At Rutgers, Kaushal is majoring in mechanical engineering (possibly with an aerospace concentration) with a minor in mathematics.
“When I was in high school, I didn't even know that I wanted to do engineering,” said Kaushal, who initially considered studying law, but soon realized she should lean into her passions, physics and math.
“I was naturally good at it, so that drove me into engineering,” she said. “With everything being so robot-based and just tech-based, I think that's what's appealing to me the most.”
When not busy as Miss New Jersey International, Kaushal finds plenty to do at the university.
As a member of the Rutgers Society of Women Engineers, she assisted the advocacy chair as well as helped with events and handling the group’s social media page. Kaushal also is a representative for the class of 2027 on the Engineering Governing Council, where she serves as communication committee associate who helps compile and edit a monthly newsletter and as a webmaster for the council’s website.
Moreover, she is part of Rutgers University Airborne, a student-run engineering club that develops, builds and flies fixed-wing, remote-controlled aircraft. Kaushal is a member of the aerostructures team, which designs internal components for the small flying machines.
A freelance model, Kaushal saw the Miss New Jersey International pageant as an opportunity for advocacy.
“You can use your platform and, being a student, basically be heard and noticed by others,” she said. “You can make change and influence others in that way. And that really struck with me.”
Close proximity to home, in-state tuition and the School of Engineering providing a “very good program” drew Kaushal to Rutgers-New Brunswick.
“I think earning merit-based scholarships, and paying for tuition can be difficult in general,” said Kaushal, who commutes. “So, one of the biggest things in my mind was I wanted to stay in state.”
She added, “Rutgers has been instrumental in my educational journey. I am proud to be a student at Rutgers.”
