Meet Elizabeth White, Hunter student and fashion model

At Hunter people of all walks of life come together for higher education, to enjoy the great city, among other reasons. There are classes all day long and into the evening hours. It’s impossible to get to know every single student and it’s easy to miss unique people like Elizabeth White, a New York City based professional model who is an English major at Hunter College.

Standing at five feet 10 inches, Elizabeth White has been modeling for almost ten years and is currently under Click Model Management Inc. She told the Tab: “I entered the modeling world through a magazine contest, believe it or not. Cosmo Girl Magazine was holding a modeling contest that started in late 2005 and whoever won received a $50,000 contract with New York Model Management.”

Elizabeth was fifteen when she entered “So You Want To Be A Model” contest. “I somehow made it to the final 12 and was flown to Miami Beach where I eventually won after being judged by Niki Taylor and Nikki Hilton.”

The South Carolina native moved full time to New York City from Myrtle Beach in 2010 after traveling all over Asia and Europe for modeling.

“It was never a dream or even a thought to model. I was enamored by the acting aspect and attention models seemed to get, at least the supers,” said Elizabeth. “Coming into the industry, I learned it was about so much more and gained a lot of knowledge of current fashion trends and high end designers.”

Elizabeth fit well into New York City’s fast paced lifestyle and soon began to think about the future. “I quickly became used to the daily life of castings and hoping for work. I decided I wanted to create better options for myself after I were to retire.”

She became inspired by a fellow model friend who took a sabbatical year and applied to Hunter’s English program. “I decided with the extra money I had saved, I would apply as well so I could start pursuing a degree to use after my career.”

When Elizabeth is in school, it can be difficult balancing assignments, projects, tests and modeling. “As a model, my life is very last minute and fast pace. I always have to be prepared to run to a last minute casting or even leave the country. Because of this, while in school, I am always trying to stay ahead and not anticipate that I will have a free day to do homework,” she said.

Despite her unpredictable modeling schedule, Elizabeth has worked out a system when picking out classes that helps her. “I use ratemyprofessor.com to research professors before signing up for their classes. I search for those who put less emphasis on attendance and punctuality in case I have to miss class for work or be late.”

Although she enjoys being an English major, Elizabeth is interested in journalism as well. “I am a declared English major, but am actually considering journalism as well or in lieu of my major,” she said.

“I love studying current events and the way the media is portrayed and how it affects certain audiences. I would love to consider working for a news team or writing for a magazine.”

Elizabeth loves her work but also acknowledges it has its downside. “My favorite part about being a model is the lack of humdrum lifestyle. Every work day is different and I get to work with so many different crews. It is not the nine to five lifestyle, which is also its negative aspect.”

It’s not every day you meet a professional model in your creative writing class who has an amazing career on fashion runways, editorial photo shoots and travels around the world for the perfect photo. Despite this, Elizabeth is a humble, wonderful person who considers herself a cat lady and looks forward to returning to Hunter to continue pursing her degree.