MY MODELLING JOURNEY

Hi guys!... In my last post, I mentioned that I’ll be sharing my modelling story with you guys. So here it is!

Out of all the “trades” I mentioned in my “jack of all trade” post, modelling seems to be the only off one. One might want to ask, why modelling?

Well, here’s why….I don’t know why... Lol
All I know is that a friend of mine convinced me to contest with all the juicy benefits she listed. I have always been a shy person so I didn’t think I could pull of participating in a beauty pageant. In order not to waste the effort of this darling friend of mine in trying to convince me, I decided to join!

I had to register with a particular amount of money, which I did. I submitted a studio picture and I was given list of things to bring to camp in a month’s time. I was also required to do social media publicity. Get people to vote me online and offline with cash.

Because I wanted to win, I embarked on the mission to increase my publicity.
Funny thing is that I couldn’t afford to buy everything I needed to bring to camp so I used part of the money people used to vote for me to get them.

Truth is I had to bill people. Family and friends so I could raise enough money for the offline voting and the travel needs. I didn’t mind cos I was really hopeful that I would win or at least be among the first 3 based on the work I put into publicity.

I travelled to a different state quite far from school for the camping with hopes to win the pageantry and the money that would come with it. In fact, I already made plans of things I would use the money for which was particularly for my family. It is just typical of me to have the mindset that everything I go into will fetch me all the money I need for huge family projects. When it doesn’t work out and I go into something else, I still think the same but so far….. nothing.

We were to camp for about a week where we performed series of activities for rating and to increase our chances of winning. I did well in camp or so I thought.

Fast forward to the final day of the contests. We had different attire for the different times we were to go on stage. Native, dinner gown, sportswear and 2 other attires we were to model for a brand.

I was in a different state where I didn’t know anyone at all. I only went thinking that my success was dependent on all the publicity and our activities in camp. I was wrong.
I never knew that the audience had to vote as well on the D.day!
There I was, contesting, with no friend, no family, no supporter physically present. Each time we had to change into a different attire, my mates had help from their friends and family, I didn’t. No one to help me dress, undress or even cheer for me. At that point I realized how lonely I was.

It discouraged me and killed my drive. However, it was the last day and of course I still needed the money so I decided to pull myself together and see it through to the end.

During the program, the audience was made to vote for their favorite contestants. Well, you all know the outcome.
At the end of the day, I was only able to make it to top 10!... out of about 30 contestants.

All the travel, the stress, the expenses, I got nothing! I don’t need to say how bad I felt, I guess you can already imagine.
That night, we were invited to go to the club to party with the winners. We all went. I needed to act like I was happy for them you know. I did that but deep inside I was nursing the wound of my loss. I took more alcohol than my body could handle, got high, cried my heart out. I’m actually embarrassed to say this but it happened.

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The next day we all prepared to leave. I came back to school to announce the outcome to my friends.
That period I was on a long lash which kind of drew attention in school. It was the period in my department where we have a kind of social program throughout the week. We called it “food week”

The Director of social called to ask me to join the pageantry organised by the department. I told her I wasn’t interested but she insisted. I consulted a few of my friends and they wanted me to participate, saying I didn’t have anything to lose afterall, so I joined yet another contest!

I wasn’t sure what I was to look forward to. This contest didn’t require any publicity, voting or camping. The panel were going to choose the winner based on our performance on the D.day.
One thing for sure was that I was not so determined about winning this time, I just wanted to do my best, get it over with and go with whatever outcome it brings.

The day came, I officially met the other contestants at the backstage. That was when I realized I was much more experienced than they were. Wow! This boosted my confidence so much. I wasn’t nervous or feeling any pressure. I was the Pro among the rest! At this point, I was grateful for the last experience I had even though I didn’t win.

The contest began and I performed more than the rest. I won! The audience cheered and rushed out to engulf me when my name was announced. I can’t describe exactly how I felt that moment. Everyone was looking at me, everyone wanted to associate with me, everyone wanted to talk to me and take pictures with me. I had never felt like that in all my life. I felt like a celebrity!

I felt so special and I was super proud of myself. There wasn’t any cash reward, just gift but I was so grateful for the experience.

I didn’t go into modelling after this but whenever I look back, there is no single regret. I moved on to focus on other ways to raise money and learn.

Alright….here you have it!

All my posts since I joined hive has been a peep into one aspect of my life or the other. There are still lots of stories to tell but for now I'll focus on my niche- business/ entrepreneurial topics.

I might share one or two stories along the way though given that I enjoy story telling.. lol

Thanks soooo much for reading my post!
I appreciate you and as always, let me know what you think in the comment section.

Thanks again and see you in the next post!