International Model Amy Lemons '00 Returns to Campus

At that point, Amy was a tomboy who loved playing soccer and had never thought of modeling, but soon enough she found herself flying around the world and featured in ads, on shopping bags and on magazine covers. She spoke to 7th and 8th Grade girls today about her experiences and the false perfection pictured in magazines and other media. She shared her story, from being a full-time Collegiate student to traveling to New York for photo shoots often and trying to keep up with her studies with the help of her mother Carol Lemons, a former Collegiate teacher.

After graduating from Collegiate, she moved to New York to model full time, but she became disenchanted with the way the business worked -- having to stay super thin at the expense of good health. With her more athletic build, being a size 0 was impossible. Though she was very successful and worked constantly, ultimately, she decided to leave the business, move to California and attend UCLA where she earned a history degree. She then decided to approach modeling on her own terms, and she signed with the Ford agency which accepted her for her natural size.

Last year several models, including Amy, co-founded The Model Alliance, an organization dedicated to "improving working conditions in the American modeling industry." Amy hopes to spend more time, in between modeling assignments, speaking to girls about having a healthy body image -- which is how she came to speak today to our 7th and 8th Grade girls. After filling them in on her career she took questions, and the girls had quite a few to ask -- about her favorite locations for photo shoots (beach), her favorite clothes (casual), what she would have been if not a model (soccer player), and even how her fiance proposed to her (on a walk). One student asked her to strike a model pose -- she obliged. She explained also that what we see in magazines has been airbrushed and pinned (clothing adjusted so it looks perfect) and that that is not real.

Amy's message is valuable, and we wish her well as she continues to advocate for young girls who may be striving for physical perfection which she said clearly is "unattainable."