I think it's about time that I explained how this all started - for lack of a better timing. Here's the scoop, I never thought of fashion as a possible career choice. Sure, I love clothes - trying them on, buying them, picking them out for people, looking at them, and dreaming about them. It didn't really occur to me why I had way more clothes than my friends or if this obsession was out of the norm from any other typical girl.
I definitely don't have any educational background in fashion - I have a B.Sc in Biochemistry and a B.Comm in Finance. I know... doesn't make any sense. And every time I explain it, people are a little confused. But, hey, I can't help what I like, and to me... life makes total sense. There's so many things to explore, and it just so happened that life blew me in several directions.
It all really started when I began volunteering for a few fashion related events in the local community. A fashion show here, a fashion charity event there... It was like a seed that planted and roots were beginning to seep into my "soil of passion", so to say. Then I met my dear babooshka (no, it's not my Russian grandma, but a young friend with an old soul). He taught me some skills in photography that were just of pure interest but later paid off in results ten-fold. I also had the chance to attend an OFW show while it was at the Arts Court downtown. At that point, I was in the photography club at the university. I also had the spunk to dive into the media pit and pretend I was part of the media (even though I was just a guest) and snapping away with my camera these model shots that I wanted for my own personal portfolio.
The summer I graduated from Biochemistry was when it triggered things in motion. It was really just a simple question my coworker asked me: "I see you looking at clothing sites all the time. Why aren't you in fashion?" Hmm.. it got me questioning. I guess I've been caught up with school and career goals right from the start of childhood that it didn't let me explore anything else. I took summer school reach ahead since grade 9 summer and haven't stopped since. Yes, no free summer for 8 years... a personal choice. I've worked at least one job, if not three simultaneously since grade 10. On top of that, extra-curricular sports, music, student council since elementary school. Little time to breathe let alone to think beyond my means. I explored a little after he mentioned this subtle yet thought-provoking question. With no design background, I thought a magazine internship would be an ideal route. In my little success, I found one fashion magazine that would allow applicants without fashion education (the majority required applicants to be in fashion school, using the internship as a credit). So again, I set that aside while I pursued my second degree in the span of a year.
April of the next year (2010) rolled around, and in university, you know what that means -- exams. But what was I doing? Yes, I was in the silent study room until 2am every night, but no... I wasn't studying exams; I was building my portfolio for the magazine internship. The requirements of the applicants for the internship outlined an assignment to be completed with questions such as: write 3 ideas for articles, why would you be suitable in a fast-paced environment with countless deadlines, etc... But, how was I going to make myself stand out, especially with no fashion background? Well, here's a time in my life where the quote, "luck is where preparation meets opportunity", has played an ever so integral strum. With all the fashion photography I had taken, I had the chance to make my skills and efforts into a masterpiece - my very own magazine. And, with the help of my handy Macbook with a versatile Microsoft Word, I chipped away at this magazine project late into many nights forgoing any guilt of not studying for exams in the meantime.
One year of straight A's (my very first of all my undergraduate years), one week of studying for GMATs with an end score of above 80%, one application to masters in hand, and one plane ticket to France. Everything in the mainstream of life had settled. I emailed my huge document of a magazine to the said email address but had to break it into several email attachments. Thinking that they might think it was spam, I really just wanted to mail the magazine company a hard copy. I would have never thought that my detective research skills I learnt over my years in undergraduate studies would come to use in this, but it did. I couldn't find a mailing address for the magazine for the life of me. Not even in the damn magazine! With no concrete solution, I signed up for their newsletter in hopes of getting some information - and luckily found a mailing address to a Media company. What I thought was possibly an ad company in affiliates with the magazine, I sent my hard copy of the magazine there in hopes of someone redirecting it to them. Turns out, the media company owns the magazine and several other popular magazines.
Travelled through Europe, convocated from undergraduate a second time, and accepted to my masters on full scholarship. Life couldn't have been better or more in place. Two to three months passed by and no answer from the magazine. I applied for a June entrance, so that I could start my masters right after. But, hey, I applied to the magazine on a whim that they'd even consider someone outside of the industry. I didn't think anything would come of it. In the end, it was for my own self satisfaction of my own abilities and pure passion. Then, sitting in my office at the hospital, one email was about to set a whole new path in motion.
