Character Study 2

As I enter my first class, I sit down in the middle somewhere in that huge lecture hall, where class is about to begin, Fashion Design. Right as my professor walks in a smile crosses my face, because it's finally sinking in that I'm in college studying what I want to do for the rest of my life. Professor. Whitmore starts to speak right away and has a pretty exciting announcement to tell the class. She tells us that one of us is going to get the chance to fly to Europe and be a part of the infamous Fashion Week. It sounded to good to be true, but the catch was, whoever got picked had to leave class right away, get on a plane, and once there find their way around Paris to their designer they were going to be paired up with. Oh and the person chosen for this once in a lifetime adventure had to style that designers whole collection for the show without any help, and if the designer doesn't like it or there collection gets bad reviews, that person would fail the class. So I was thinking to myself, how cool it would be to go to Paris for this once in a lifetime opportunity to possibly get my foot in the door with all these famous designers and have a shot at proving that this is what I was meant to do. There was no way though, that I out of 200 students would be picked, there was just no way. Little did I know the chances were in my favor, I didn't know if it was luck or fate that I ended up being picked. I tried so hard to contain my excitement so as I left the room with my plane ticket and backpack, I was headed to the airport. In a matter of minutes my idea of what college was going to be like changed. I knew I wanted to study abroad in Paris for my major, but I didn't expect it to be on my first day of Freshman year. I didn't have time to call my friends or family, so they next time they heard from me they wouldn't even know I was in France. I would spend a whole school year away from them, doing what I love but while missing the ones I love. As I got to the airport I was all flustered and in a rush because my plane was about to take off in 15 minutes and I've never been in an airport by myself. As I was jogging to my terminal I bump into this woman and fall down. I was slightly angry at first because I didn't need this extra delay. Then I got up and saw that it was Hannah, my best friend from high school. She was on her way to somewhere for one of her college assignments as well, but I didn't get all the details because I was in  a rush and so was she. So I picked up my bag and ran to the terminal. I got there just as they were about to shut the door and for the next 15 hours I would be on a constant roller coaster ride, not because of the plane but because of all the ideas, emotions, questions, and possible scenarios I was going to be put in, that would be rushing through my mind. That did happen for  a good 10 hours of the trip, but I did actually manage to sleep for a solid 5. When I landed I didn't know where to go or what to do because I was tired, hungry, smelly, and lost. All I had was my dead phone, wallet, laptop, water, a jacket, 500 American dollars and an address. It was no use using my laptop without internet connection, so I had to find directions the old fashioned way, by asking people, who a majority didn't speak English. Finally after a few hours of going from place to place, person to person I ended up standing in front of a building that read Versace. Now from my perspective I have heard of the designer I knew he was really famous and so are his clothes and I was just in awe at where I was. I walked in and from that moment on just like the moment after hitting the "send" button on my college applications everything was in fast forward. I met the main style coordinator from Versace and right away she put me to work I was sitting in on meetings, shadowing what seemed like a new stylist everyday, but it wasn't all fun and games. Yeah I was in this beautiful place around all these beautiful faces and clothes. I was on the outskirts because people didn't know me and believe me I tried giving my input, but I always got shut down because I was young,unknown, and someone with no hands on experience in the fashion business, yet. I needed to do something though because I didn't want to go in blind when it came to Fashion Week and I didn't know the collection or my surroundings. So I took matters into my own hands and I made my presence loud and clear. Everyday I got up 2 hours earlier to go  into the design studio and I would stay 2 hours after everyone left to review the collection and each piece. I would study every article of clothing, sketch out my ideas, and build virtual replications on my laptop of my own vision for the show. During the day I wouldn't ask to help or ask to give my input, I would just do it. At first whoever was in charge at the task at hand was taken back, but I think it was refreshing for someone young and new to take control. No matter how much they tried to push me aside or shut me down, I wasn't going to give up and there was no way I was going to fail my first college course. Nothing really changed in the way people saw me and I didn't gain more respect or any at all. They still saw me as an adolescent who was annoying and getting in their way. Still that didn't stop me from making my presence seen. In a matter of no time, the day had come where I would either fail or succeed and it didn't seem like anybody cared if I failed. On that very first day of fashion week I was in control because I had to be. I was the one who finally got to boss people around, and style things my own way. It was liberating in a way to have them listen to me for the first time since I got there but at the same time it was scary not being given input or ordered around. I had no direction it was all on me if this collection would be a hit or not. It was minutes until the first model would walk out on stage I was stressed anxious, and my mind and heart were racing at a million miles per hour but I was proud of what I had accomplished with the obstacles I had overcome. Finally the time I had come the lights dim, the music started, and the cameras started flashing. I didn't know what people thought of it, I was just praying and hoping for the best. That night was the longest 6 hours of my life and I was exhausted, but the show was finally over and I wouldn't know until I got back to the States the next day, to see if I passed or not. This time I was too exhausted to think, so I slept the whole plane ride home and it sucked because an hour after I landed I had to be in class. So I didn't even bother stopping by my dorm I brushed my teeth in a public bathroom, washed my face, threw up my hair and there I was, this time sitting in the front of the class. It felt like the first day all over again, and technically it was only my second day. Professor Whitmore walked in without a sign of emotion on her face and the room was quiet. But as soon as I heard the claps surround me like a cloud of thunder, I knew I did something right. I guess one could say I not only passed my class with an A, I was offered by the head of Versace to come back to Europe anytime free of charge to Fashion Week and when I got my degree there would be a spot waiting for me in Paris.