dear fairy model mother | college or the catwalk?

Hello lovelies. It’s officially December and college students are cramming in the last days of the semester. So it’s perfect timing for this question from Jacky shouting out via Harlem. She’s 18 and says that while she dreams of being a model, her mother wants her to finish her collegiate career before embarking on that pursuit. Jacky asks,

“Can I have a successful modeling career while attending college?”

Jacky,  I know all too well what you’re going through. Let me tell you a story about a freckled girl with high hopes of being in magazines and walking on runways. I have wanted to model since I was a teen. Just for fun, my friends and I would go to those mall model searches and scouts would tell me that I had a lot of potential. After some convincing, my parents finally enrolled me in modeling classes when I was 17.  While the school did not guarantee that I’d get signed with an agency, it did educate me on what it takes to be a model. After the program was done,  the instructors offered to place me with agencies in Atlanta. I was super excited! I knew that I still wanted to go to college, so I applied and was accepted to a university nearby. I was setting up meetings with agencies, found the perfect college roommate and was working on my class schedule when… errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Mom slammed on the brakes.  My hopes of being a collegiate model came to a hault. Mom gave her reasons, but I had my suspicions that she wanted me to focus on studying and not modeling.

I tell you all of this because education is very important. Especially in the black community when our ancestors were often held back from pursuing higher learning, it’s important to our parents that we get as much schooling as possible. I understand mom’s concern. She doesn’t want her baby to push college to the side while you try your hand at modeling.

With all of that said, if you want to pursue your dream then go for it! It might be a challenge, but you can be a model while attending a university. Plenty of gorgeous amazons have done it. Here are some tips to balance fashion and higher education:

• Try taking 12 hours a semester instead of 15. Modeling can be a little unpredictable, so you want to make sure your coarse load isn’t overwhelming.
• To keep yourself free for castings and photo shoots, take evening classes.  Many non-traditional students do the same thing so they can keep their day jobs and go to school at night.
• What about online courses?  Many of them are self-paced and just require that you devote a certain number of hours a week.  Perfect for working around your crazy schedule.
• Enroll in fashion, business, or marketing courses.  As a model you are technically a business, so these classes can help you understand the nuts and bolts of the industry you’re in
• Plan ahead.  If you know that you’ll be missing a class or two during fashion week or a catalogue shoot, let your professor know.  Try to get those assignments done early so you don’t fall behind.

Although modeling is your dream, don’t treat education like it’s your backup plan. College can provide you with the tools and knowledge you need to get ahead in life. That’s all that our mommas and papas really want for us. Remember, knowledge is power.

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Tagged as: college, modeling