Climbing
to different heights
Students opt to start careers, take gap years over college
Stories by Mila Segal, Ellie Cooper, August Lazarro and Juliana Stimac
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or a year after she graduates, senior Amelia Lonsdale will save money to move to and model in Los Angeles. Lonsdale belongs to Dragonfly Agency and has modeled for three years. She first got into modeling to avoid a more traditional part-time job like waitressing. “I definitely see it as more of a job than a hobby because it feels like work,” Lonsdale said. “But it is a fun job.” As her modeling career progressed, she was doing photo shoots weekly. Senior Gia Dorazil, Lonsdale’s friend, said watching Lonsdale’s opportunities grow was surreal. “It’s not as easy as people perceive it to be, and it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort,” Dorazil said. “You are constantly having to please people and work on yourself.” Lonsdale plans to network and build her reputation once she arrives in Los Angeles, where she said the job opportunities are more abundant. Surrounded by friends going to four-year colleges, Lonsdale felt like she was missing out, but she tried not
Amelia Lonsdale
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nce she crosses the stage come Maddysen Hardee graduation day, senior Maddysen Hardee plans to pursue her passion, art. “I want to make and sell pieces by commission,” Hardee said. “I personally prefer to do portraits and draw faces.” Hardee will be taking business classes at Dallas College, which she hopes will help in her planned career as an a commissioned artist. “I don’t want the huge amount of debt for a degree I’m not sure I even want,” Hardee said. “I’ve never had a dream job that wasn’t selling my own art.” She will also take the opportunity to explore some other interests in community college, such as anatomy, psychology and math. “I’m hoping that once I’m out of school, I’ll have more time to focus on my art,”
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to focus on what she might be missing out on. “I remembered that I could go visit all of my friends in college, and I also didn’t have all the stress that they were having because I know what I’m going to do,” Lonsdale said. To save up for her move, Lonsdale will bartend at the restaurant Up on Knox and take local modeling jobs. “I think it will be a great opportunity for her to live on her own, but of course I will miss her,” James Lonsdale, Amelia Lonsdale’s father, said. He said that Lonsdale’s smarts, beauty and good sense of humor will serve her well while she works to make a name for herself in California. “I have a lot of faith that anything she puts her mind to she can do,” James Lonsdale said. “As long as she is happy doing something, it makes me happy.” Hardee said. The support of her parents and friends, as well as her own personal drive, have made the process easier, she said. “As long as what she does makes her happy, then I’m all for it,” sophomore Arin Mann, Hardee’s friend, said. A fellow senior and friend of Hardee, Marion Hawsey, is also supportive of Hardee’s decision in pursuing community college, and is also supportive of her future art business. “I feel that she’s a smart individual and she should know what’s best for her future,” Hawsey said. “I will support any choice she makes.”
ALTERNATE OPTIONS
