Soma Serei Norodom Biography
Soma Serei Norodom was born on October 29, 1969, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In April 1975, Soma and her family arrived in the U.S. and resided in Long Beach, California. She graduated from Chaffey High School in Ontario, California, and was the Commencement Speaker for her graduating class of 1988. Soma holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Telecommunications & Journalism, with an emphasis in News and Public Affairs (1993) and has completed the Master’s Program in Mass Communication (1996) at California State University, Fresno. Soma was the Graduation Speaker for the Telecommunications & Journalism Department in 1993, and has been invited numerous times to speak in the Mass Communication & Public Relations classes at California State University, Fresno. She currently is featured in “Words from our Alumni” on the Fresno State’s Mass Communication and Journalism Department website.
A former 1990 California Raisin Bowl Princess, Soma has assisted with the Miss America Organization where she served as a member of the Miss California Pageant Judges Committee in Fresno, California. Soma was very involved in the communities of Fresno and Long Beach, California, organizing charity events from Toys for Tots, Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Club, to Breast Cancer Awareness, and was a volunteer at Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless in Atlanta, Georgia. Soma has helped campaigned for several Republican candidates including former Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, Bill Simon, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who became California’s 38th Governor.
In 2006, Soma moved to Atlanta, Georgia to continue her career in TV Broadcasting & Journalism. Soma worked as a Television Sports Commentator and the Director of Marketing for Ladies In the Locker Room, an all female television sports talk show based in Atlanta, and was featured in the CNN Report, “Taking on Stereotypes in the Locker Room.” She has reported on NFL, NBA, and college football games, and has worked in two Super Bowls in Tampa, Florida in 2009, and Miami, Florida in 2010.
In addition, Soma worked as an actor and was a regular cast member of Atlanta Homicide, a television drama series, where she played Dr. Marla, a Forensics Lab Technician. She has appeared in an episode of Tyler Perry’s television sitcom, House of Payne, and his movies, Madea Goes to Jail and I Can Do Bad All By Myself, the ABC Family original movie, My Fake Fiancé with JoeyLawrence and Melissa Joan Hart, as well as the Warner Bros. movie, The Preacher’s Kid. Other professional experiences include Radio and Television Host, Master of Ceremonies of fashion shows and charity events, as well as appearances in local and national commercials for Comcast Cable Television, Delta Airlines, and Animal Planet. Soma was a student at the renowned Nick Conti’s Professional Actors Studio in Atlanta, Georgia.
In June 2010, Soma moved to Cambodia to take care of her sick father, Norodom Vatvani, who has decided to move back to Cambodia and stay for the remainder of his life. He is a retired General of the Khmer Air Force, and was one of the Founding Fathers of the Cambodian Community of Long Beach, California, the Cambodian Community of Seattle, Washington, and the Cambodian Community of Fresno, California. Her mother, 3 sisters, and 1 brother, currently resides in Southern California. Soma is in the research process of writing a book about her father, and the Norodom Family of Cambodia.