An Eye-opening Experience

At 19 I was still young and vulnerable.

This was also the first time I would be living away from home. Exciting yet terrifying.

My roommate introduced me to her friends which at first I was grateful for, but later felt some backlash.

Promoters.

Pretty much all clubs have them. A club promoter (usually a guy) -  a female club promoter would be surprising yet empowering, so if you're out there - you go girl! Anyways, a club promoter is a guy who brings a group of "attractive" girls to the club. The club pays the promoter and also gives him a table, bottles of alcohol, and table service.

On some nights we would go to fancy restaurants for a free dinner before adventuring out to the club. And who doesn't love free food, amirite? And I'm not talking about some skimpy green leaves because we were models. And "models don't eat".

My favorite place for dinner was an Italian restaurant. I was awe-struck. The music was blaring, the floor was shaking, and the people were dancing on tables! Everyone had drinks in their hands. Wait, is this a restaurant or a club?

The waiters brought out salads, pizzas, pastas, cake, fruit, red wine, white wine, even coffee to stay awake at the club since we were going to be there till 2 am. 3 am. Maybe even 4 am. But the best part of the whole experience were the fried oreos. 

Definitely not a part of my model diet.

The Big Move to the Big Apple

One of my biggest dreams when I was little was to be a famous super model. This is still my dream of course, just a little more realistic now. Less famous. More successful.

When I was 19 years old I signed with a modeling agency in New York.

Wow. I had never even been to New York! I was excited to say the least.

It was time...

I packed up as much of my stuff as I could into two suitcases, not really knowing what I would need, and my mom and I began our journey from Tulsa, Oklahoma to New York, New York.

Filled with nerves, butterflies and a little (lot of) stress we stepped out of the airport into the streets of New York City.

*first thoughts*

Stinky. Dirty. Hot.

Ahh the wonderful New York taxis. You can't miss the bright (ugly) yellow things.

We took a taxi to my new "home" on the upper west side of Manhattan near the George Washington Bridge. I was going to be sharing an apartment with two other models, a boy and a girl.

We called up to the 3rd floor, a girl answered and said she would be down to help us.

Oh no. You have got to be kidding me. There was no elevator?!?

The three of us had to carry all of our suitcases and bags up three flights of tiny, creaky, wooden stairs. It was a workout to say the least.

Apartments in New York are like closets in Oklahoma. Or anywhere else really.

After finally getting all moved in it was time to explore. I downloaded a map on my phone (gotta love technology), and my mom and I set out on our adventure.

Ahh the subways. Another wonderful part of the city. There's trash EVERYWHERE, rats, and the smell of b.o. and urine fills the air. Just don't breathe.

We took the train to Times Square where hundreds of people filled the brightly lit streets. Times Square is a combination of giant ads, huge stores, several restaurants and tourists galore.

Talk about a huge culture shock. But I was here. Just a girl from Oklahoma now living in the Big Apple.

What's a Wandering Sol?

The word "sol" means sun in Spanish.  

I've always been kind of lost, never really knowing what I wanted to do with my life but at the same time wanting to do it all. Hence the wandering part. 

So let's go back the beginning....

After graduating high school, I went to a community college for a year and then signed with a modeling agency in New York. Random. Yes, but I have been modeling since I was 12 years old and it is one of my passions.

I'll expand on all of this later but here's a short summary to start:

I lived in New York for about a year, returned home for the holidays and signed with a modeling agency in Mexico City.

You think I would be fluent in Spanish by now since I have been taking Spanish classes since 6th grade.... *sigh*
 
I lived in Mexico City for about 4 months, made some life-long friends, ate too many tacos and then returned to New York.
While I was back in New York I got to be apart of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week for my third season.

Oh by the way this whole time I was still taking classes online and working towards my Associate's degree. Physical beauty doesn't last forever. And college is just what you're supposed to do, right?

After I pretty much spent all of my money in New York, I figured it was time to head back home to Oklahoma.  

That summer I graduated with my Associate's degree. So now what? 

Two weeks before the fall semester started I decided to go to the University of Central Oklahoma. ROLL CHO'S.

So that's how we end up here. On this blog. Telling you all about my life