As a child, Victoria Wejko was in awe of the women she saw competing in televised beauty pageants. But she didn’t believe she had anything in common with them.
Gun violence had claimed the life of her older brother when he was 16, exacerbating her mother’s longtime struggles with substance abuse, and her mother died under mysterious circumstances when Wejko was just 10.
Wejko sometimes wonders if the little girl she was in those days would even recognize the woman she’s become.
“It’s just amazing to me how things can go so full circle in life,” mused Wejko, who now is a wife, stepmother, a full-time parish faith-formation director and the reigning Mrs. New York American.
Despite Wejko’s crisis of faith, God continued to care for her
Looking back, Wejko now can see God’s hand at work in her life even in her darkest moments. For years after her mother’s death, however, she was very angry at God.
“The beauty is God could handle it more than anyone else,” said Wejko, who recently became faith-formation director at St. Mary of the Lake Parish in Skaneateles, which is part of the Diocese of Syracuse. She previously had served as director of communications and evangelization at Church of the Transfiguration in Pittsford and St. Catherine of Siena in Mendon. From 2017-23, she also was a board member of the Rochester Catholic Press Association, publisher of the Catholic Courier.
Despite her crisis of faith, Wejko was impressed with her paternal grandmother’s devotion to her Catholic faith. Although Wejko recalled feeling she really did not understand who God was at that point, God nonetheless continued to put people in her life who cared for and supported her.
“On paper I looked like … a kid who should not graduate from high school,” Wejko said, noting that her teachers refused to give up on her. “That, to me, is God in my life. He placed these beautiful people in my life who really believed in me and saw potential in me when I didn’t see that.”
A friend’s invitation marked a turning point in Wejko’s faith journey
In high school, one of Wejko’s friends invited her to tag along to a youth-group meeting. Wejko replied that she wasn’t really religious and didn’t go to church, but her friend said it didn’t matter.
“That invite was something that really helped put me on a really great faith journey,” Wejko said. “Youth group was a huge part of my healing process.”
Her experiences with youth group and youth retreats sparked an internal transformation so momentous that one youth minister told Wejko she looked “physically lighter” than she had when they met.
“She said I can’t even explain it, but it was so clear that God had done some work in me over that year,” Wejko remarked.
Pageants helped Wejko gain life skills and a platform from which to advocate for others
After graduating from college, Wejko went on to Genesee Community College and then SUNY Brockport, where she studied political science. She started competing in local pageants as a way to help pay her tuition and living expenses. She earned several scholarships, but more than that, she gained valuable life skills, Wejko said.
“I learned how to present myself, how to talk in an interview in front of a panel of people,” she said.
Wejko earned a master’s degree in public administration from SUNY Brockport in 2012 and an additional master’s degree in pastoral studies and counseling from St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in 2019. She worked for several years in youth and young-adult ministry at parishes in the Diocese of Rochester, but remained involved in the pageant world.
After marrying her husband, John, in 2018, she began competing in Mrs. American pageants and in June 2024 was crowned Mrs. New York American. She now makes appearances at charitable events throughout the state and uses her platform to advocate for and support survivors of childhood trauma.
“I believe that God placed me in this world to do good and to help others that were in similar situations to have hope and see that their life doesn’t end. They can redefine who they want to be,” Wejko said. “… I just want them to see, wow, you can do it. It’s not easy. I never try to make out that it’s this easy road, but it is possible.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: “Profiles in Faith” highlights Catholics in the Diocese of Rochester of all ages and walks of life who are role models for living the faith. To suggest someone to profile, email Newsroom@CatholicCourier.com.
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