Casandra Tressler was born in Garret County, Maryland to Douglas and Tammy Tressler. Born into the sport of gymnastics, she excelled through the levels, winning several different state, regional, and national championships. After moving to Damascus, MD, at the age of nine, she qualified and competed as an International Elite gymnast, traveling to places such as El Salvador to help restore their gymnastics program. An injury at the age of thirteen quickly brought her dreams to a standstill. Fortunately, her parents had instilled in her at a young age that giving up was never an option. After refocusing her life, she began to heavily involve herself in Cheerleading and Track & Field, winning four state high jump championships.

After graduating high school, Casandra went to Coastal Carolina University where she will soon graduate with a degree in Political Science and Spanish. While attending Coastal Carolina University, she was very involved in Phi Alpha Delta - Pre-Law Honors Society. She also traveled to Atlanta with a group of students to represent her university in the Southern Region Model United Nations. She was an active member of the South Carolina Student Legislature as well as interned for the Horry County Family Court State Solicitor.

Currently, she is interning for a leading presidential candidate in South Carolina until the completion of the primaries. Following her graduation, she will devote the next several months to fulfilling her title as Miss Maryland USA. She then plans to attend law school in September of 2008.

Casandra is also very active in her church and is responsible for running the Senior High Youth Group. After working closely with so many teenagers, she feels that the main issue teens face today is the pressure to conform to an image they feel society has for them. Therefore, she would like to take the time to work with them so show them that true beauty comes from within, and is found in individuality. She wants to help these young individuals acquire their dreams while she is living hers.

Casandra has also traveled to Guatemala on a mission trip with twelve other members from her church. Here she worked with young children, aided in needed construction, and visited several different orphanages. She feels a special compassion for humanitarian work and plans to return to many different countries in Latin America and Africa in hopes of helping to alleviate poverty and child hunger. However, she feels that compassion and humanitarian work must first begin at home starting in her own community, her state, and then reaching out to her nation.

She plans not only to devote her year, but her life, to bettering the lives of those around her. Currently, she has involved herself in many different charity organizations dealing with arthritis, cancer, domestic abuse and troubled teens. She has also committed herself to working with the Best Buddies Organization, Special Olympics and the Boys and Girls Club.