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During March of 2016, I was a junior in high school trying to gain more experience in the fashion world, showing collections in fashion shows, working on my farm and trying to do homework all at the same time. One day in the middle of my busy teenage life I received a strange phone call from Los Angeles, California, I wasn’t sure if I should pick it up thinking they had the wrong number, but I was curious
and picked it up. I had no expectations of who's ear could of been on the other line, but I definitely didn't expect this. It had come to my surprise that a casting director was calling me asking me to audition for Project Runway Junior Season 2! I was shocked, I thought how did they know about me?, how did they find me?, they want me?. So many questions but I didn't care what the answers were I was finally getting the exposure I had been wanting.
Since that phone call I had to take many steps to even audition, I had to fill out the standard application, and send a video of myself, showing my personality and my designs. It took me days to film it, I first had to think what’s the best way to show who I am, and I thought well my farm is a very big influence in the kind of designer I am, so It started out with me in front of my field holding a chicken introducing myself and the camera spinning and ending up in my sewing room, looking back it was hilarious. I then went on showing my designs and telling them why I would be a great contestant on the show. I wanted to show how creative I really am, and I guess they agreed and I got an email shortly after saying I had made it to the next round! The next step was a Skype call with one of the casting directors answering more questions about myself and showing more of my designs. I did the Skype call and she told me she loved me, she loved my story and the kind of designer I was, and I was moved to the next step.
The next step of this audition I would have never expected in my wildest dreams, I had to fly out to New York and have the final audition. It had been a dream of mine to go to New York, I had begged my parents for years to take me but they never had the time or money to just take a trip there, but when they told us we had to go to New York, you know very well we took the opportunity in a heartbeat. The day couldn’t have came any slower, I couldn't contain my excitement but we had finally made it to The Big Apple!
It was everything I had ever dreamed it would be and better, I fell in love with the tall buildings, the bustling streets and the beautiful street lights at night, I could not believe I was finally fulfilling this dream. We were staying for 4 days, and we had to fit everything there was to visit in those four days plus the audition, let me tell ya I had never walked so much in my life, I don't know how these New Yorkers do it.
The audition day was approaching, and I had made my outfit I was wearing to wow the judges just a little more, I was nervous but excited, my whole fashion career could be taken to the next level by this one phone call.
The time finally came, I stepped into a room full of cameras, the entire audition was being videotaped for the show, past contestants from Project Runway were there to critique my designs and it all finally seemed real. As the audition went on I felt I was doing pretty good, I showed them the designs I brought, and my inspiration for them. At the end the whole room suddenly got quit and the director says congratulations you made it to the next round.
I wasn't sure what the final audition was but they made me and other contestants wait in a Room while we were slowly being pulled one by one. To kill the time we all got know each other and showed our designs, they were all so impressed by my designs and were all so certain I would get in, it made me feel very confident.
The final audition was a personal interview, and a woman was asking me questions about myself, my inspiration, and when I started designing. I felt it went well and I was excited to see what was going to happen next. When the interview came to an end she told me I did great and she said I could go that I will be contacted in a couple weeks about their decision. I was excited about what could happen next, who knows maybe I'll make it and my whole life could change.
As the weeks passed I hadn’t received any news from the interview, until one day we got a call, it was the casting director telling me I got in an I was going to be one of the contestants on Project Runway Junior Season 2! I couldn’t believe it, I told all my friends and family, my career was about to be taken to next level and I couldn't wait.
I was starting to prepare myself to leave cause i possibly could be gone for weeks, but as the days were getting closer we weren’t receiving any updates at all, we were concerned. Until a week before we would’ve supposedly left we got an email, it was from the same casting director.
He was apologizing, they had changed their mind about me and I was no longer a contestant on the show. Not gonna lie, I was bummed, and confused but I didn’t let it phase me, it honestly motivated me to be better, i wasn't gonna let something like this bring me down, I knew I was good I didn’t need a television show to tell me otherwise. Since then I have not stopped designing and have been invited to multiple fashion shows to showcase my collections and have gotten more exposure than ever. Although it would have been an amazing experience it was still a great experience to audition and I don’t regret it. This whole journey only showed me that one, television shows are a scam lets just all agree on that, two all things happen for a reason, who knows maybe I would of never made it to New York without this audition, and three one day ill become a successful designer and look back at this and think, damn they lucked out on me.
Yet...