The Nexus

The scissors snipped nearly a foot of Joy Liu’s (10) long black hair.

Her mouth dropped as she gaped at her reflection in the mirror as her hair stylists began to trim and style her new cropped cut.

But if this was what the agency wanted, then Liu was going to have to live with it.

Liu is a model, working after school and on weekends attending photo shoots and strutting on the runways.

She began modeling when she was about 12 years old, when her friend who was performing in a charity fashion show introduced Liu to the art of modeling.

After watching her friend walk the runway and seeing other models in magazines and on television, Liu decided to get involved.

“It looked like she had a lot of fun [because] she got all dressed up,” Liu said. “I was looking at magazines and seeing [models] getting to wear this beautiful clothing. It didn’t look that hard, but it’s actually really tiring.”

Liu knew that day that she wanted to model.

She then began taking modeling classes and two years ago, set out auditioning and searching for an agency.

Liu even quit her running for track in order to model.

“I decided that modeling is more of a priority right now,” she said. “It is like a hobby for me.”

But despite Liu’s love for modeling, she said it’s not as thrilling as it is portrayed by the media.

“Seriously, I don’t think modeling is that glamorous,” Liu said. “The hair and make-up are awesome; [it’s] my favorite part of the whole thing. But anybody can model.”

However, Liu still enjoys traveling for shoots, with all of the expenses being paid for by the modeling agency.

Liu’s modeling agency sets her up with various events such as photo shoots, fashion shows and meetings. She has traveled to Los Angeles, New York and even China for these events.

Although these trips are mainly for meeting other branches of the modeling agency, Liu has also shot a couple of editorials in China as well as meeting with New York Models.

“A lot of girls in the agency have traveled all over the world,” Liu said. “I want to go to Tokyo, Milan and Paris [because] they are the fashion capitals of the world. A lot of magazine editorials are shot there and it’s beautiful.”

Along with managing Liu’s events, the agency also has a lot of control over Liu’s image.

“They put me on diets and measure me,” Liu said. “Before I signed with my agency, I only did runways, [but now] it’s serious.”

Liu’s current plans include building up her portfolio through various shoots so she can book more jobs.

Some of these photo shoots have required Liu to undergo some interesting makeovers that drastically changed her appearance in order to achieve a certain look. Some of these changes were temporary, while others were not.

“I’ve gotten my eyebrows bleached, [but] they dyed them back,” Liu said. “And they cut [10 inches of] my hair on set. They said that I needed a fresh look.”

Liu has worn many different designer fashions such as Jorge Corella and Nicole Miller but her main goal is to model the fashions from her favorite designer, Betsey Johnson.

“She’s so unique [compared to] other designers,” Liu said. “[Other designers] are serious and gloomy, but she has cute dresses and stuff ordinary people can wear.”

Modeling has proven to be very satisfying for Liu and her future in modeling is her main motivation, but she doesn’t see herself having a major involvement in modeling later in life.

“It’s not a career option,” she said. “It’s so hard to make it. It’s just a hobby to do once in a while.”

Instead, Liu has decided that she wants to delay attending college for a year so that she can travel the world and model internationally.

Liu knows that if she doesn’t take the opportunity to travel and model before college, she will regret it later.

“Even if there was that little chance that I could, it would definitely be something I’d want to do,” Liu said. “Even for a little while.”