Deeva Shah, a rising senior at Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia was recently named Miss Teen India Galaxy 2007. This July, Deeva will be going to Orlando, Florida to compete for the international title of Miss Teen Galaxy. Her sponsors are her parents and Spirit of India, run by Jin Models in Oakland, California. Deeva will compete in many different parts of the pageant including swimwear, fashion wear, evening dress, and the interview portion. More than anything, she is extremely proud to be representing the Indian community of Hampton Roads and of all Virginia and especially her proud parents, Jignasha and Vijay Shah.

When Deeva is not competing in such pageants, she is involved in many activities at Princess Anne High School. She is a part of the International Baccalaureate Program which she believes has, as she says, "helped me become more aware of world around me and taught me that I can make a difference." She is also an active member of the Debate Team, the Mock Trial Team, and the state championship Forensics Team. She hopes that her experience with these activities has sufficiently prepared her for the interview portion of the Miss Teen Galaxy Pageant. Her other major area of interest lies in the two language classes she takes, Spanish and Latin. She is the Vice President of the Virginia Junior Classical League and the President of the PAHS Latin Club. She says, "These languages have not only allowed me to gain insight about the world around me, but it has also taught me to appreciate the many cultures present in our world today and how important they all are to our community."

This June, as a delegate from Princess Anne High to the Girls State program at Longwood University, Deeva met many of the leaders of Virginia and the nation and become interested in the role women play in government. She hopes to go to college and major in political science and then go on to become a lawyer. Deeva says, " I hope that competing in the Miss Teen Galaxy pageant will give me a chance to get my ideas out in the world. Becoming Miss Teen India has already been a dream come true for me and I am glad to be a role model for all the Indian women. I hope that by competing in such a prestigious pageant, I will be able to influence young women all around the world to start making a difference in their world, whether it is simply in their schools or even in their communities."