Please critique! any input is appreciated :)
The fashion industry is much more than what meets the eye. People will say to me, "Fashion is not a promising career choice," or ask, "Why would you want to base your career on such a superficial lifestyle?" To me, fashion is not all about the glitz and glamour that everyone sees walking down the runway or on the cover of a magazine. No one sees the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make those things happen.
It is amazing what a good pair of jeans and the perfect pair of high heels can do to a woman's self-esteem. I first realized I had an eye for fashion during my freshman year of high school. My friends would ask me to go shopping with them and to help dress them for formals or dates. When I saw the happiness it brought to them when they were dressed just right I could not ignore the feeling it gave me; I knew that working in the fashion industry was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. A teacher at school had mentioned classes at the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising that were being offered for high school students. During my sophomore and junior years of high school I had taken visual merchandising, magazine editing, celebrity styling, and buying classes through LIM on Saturdays and throughout the summer. It was during those classes that I narrowed down exactly what I wanted to do, which is to ultimately become a buyer.
When I sat down with my high school guidance counselor to apply for college I said that my school needed to be closer than an airplane ride away from home and need to be recognized for their fashion department. Being a more artistic person and less of a structured classroom learner my grades were not up to par with most college admissions requirements and that held me back from applying to FIT. I applied to "safe" schools that I knew I had a good chance of getting in to. Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts ended up being my final selection for many reasons. I attended Lasell for my first two semesters and realized it was not the place for me and I was not getting the education I wanted. By the time I had made my decision to not return the next semester, it was already too late to apply to another school for fall 2012. I came home and started working two jobs to keep busy and save money for loans I had taken out. When Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey, my shoreline home and neighborhood were destroyed in her wake. My family was devastated by the aftermath and school was the last thing on my mind. Fall semester had come and gone and I still had no plans for my college career. My family and I are still not fully healed from the damage Sandy has caused us, but it is time to start thinking about my future instead of the past.
"Fight for your dreams, anything is possible." My parents have programmed that saying into my brain for as long as I can remember. Growing up in a working middle class family has taught me that nothing is given to you and if you want something bad enough you will work to make it happen. Working hard is one of the main reasons I am choosing to work in the fashion industry. Not only will I have to work my way from the bottom up in order to establish a career, but fashion is a 24/7 job that needs a lot of attention. If you mess up, the blame falls completely on you, but when you succeed, you get to take a step back and look at the masterpiece that your hard work has created. That satisfaction is one of my favorite feelings, almost an adrenaline rush.
Attending the Fashion Institute of Technology and becoming a buyer is one dream I will not give up on. I cannot change the things I have slipped up on in the past, I can only look forward and make the best of what life has dealt me. FIT is world renowned, in the most perfect location on earth, and can provide me with the tools necessary to get me where I want to be in life. There is not a doubt in my mind that FIT is where I need to be.
The fashion industry is much more than what meets the eye. People will say to me, "Fashion is not a promising career choice," or ask, "Why would you want to base your career on such a superficial lifestyle?" To me, fashion is not all about the glitz and glamour that everyone sees walking down the runway or on the cover of a magazine. No one sees the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make those things happen.
It is amazing what a good pair of jeans and the perfect pair of high heels can do to a woman's self-esteem. I first realized I had an eye for fashion during my freshman year of high school. My friends would ask me to go shopping with them and to help dress them for formals or dates. When I saw the happiness it brought to them when they were dressed just right I could not ignore the feeling it gave me; I knew that working in the fashion industry was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. A teacher at school had mentioned classes at the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising that were being offered for high school students. During my sophomore and junior years of high school I had taken visual merchandising, magazine editing, celebrity styling, and buying classes through LIM on Saturdays and throughout the summer. It was during those classes that I narrowed down exactly what I wanted to do, which is to ultimately become a buyer.
When I sat down with my high school guidance counselor to apply for college I said that my school needed to be closer than an airplane ride away from home and need to be recognized for their fashion department. Being a more artistic person and less of a structured classroom learner my grades were not up to par with most college admissions requirements and that held me back from applying to FIT. I applied to "safe" schools that I knew I had a good chance of getting in to. Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts ended up being my final selection for many reasons. I attended Lasell for my first two semesters and realized it was not the place for me and I was not getting the education I wanted. By the time I had made my decision to not return the next semester, it was already too late to apply to another school for fall 2012. I came home and started working two jobs to keep busy and save money for loans I had taken out. When Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey, my shoreline home and neighborhood were destroyed in her wake. My family was devastated by the aftermath and school was the last thing on my mind. Fall semester had come and gone and I still had no plans for my college career. My family and I are still not fully healed from the damage Sandy has caused us, but it is time to start thinking about my future instead of the past.
"Fight for your dreams, anything is possible." My parents have programmed that saying into my brain for as long as I can remember. Growing up in a working middle class family has taught me that nothing is given to you and if you want something bad enough you will work to make it happen. Working hard is one of the main reasons I am choosing to work in the fashion industry. Not only will I have to work my way from the bottom up in order to establish a career, but fashion is a 24/7 job that needs a lot of attention. If you mess up, the blame falls completely on you, but when you succeed, you get to take a step back and look at the masterpiece that your hard work has created. That satisfaction is one of my favorite feelings, almost an adrenaline rush.
Attending the Fashion Institute of Technology and becoming a buyer is one dream I will not give up on. I cannot change the things I have slipped up on in the past, I can only look forward and make the best of what life has dealt me. FIT is world renowned, in the most perfect location on earth, and can provide me with the tools necessary to get me where I want to be in life. There is not a doubt in my mind that FIT is where I need to be.