Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

FAU’s Next Top Model?

FAU student Mikaela Schipani has spent her time in college competing for the top grades in class. This year, however, she is about to compete in a totally different contest.

Mikaela is one of 14 hopeful models vying for the title of America’s Next Top Model during the show’s 16th season.

The UP got a chance to talk to Mikaela via email and ask her about the show and competition.

 

America’s Next Top Model Season 16 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.


UP: What part of the competition were you most excited about?

Mikaela Schipani: The photo shoots! ANTM always has something crazy in mind, and I love a challenge, so getting to participate in all of these amazing photo shoots with such talented people was surreal.

 

UP: How did you get your start in modeling?

MS: I started modeling when I was 15. I went to all of the big agencies in Miami (Ford, Elite, Wilhelmina), but they all told me that I was too young. For the next two years, I just focused on high school and did some modeling on the side.

By the time I was 17, I was ready to try again. My brother set me up with a professional photographer and paid for my first real shoot. I was back in Miami a few days later with my new photographs, and I was knocking on all of the agency doors.

A few weeks later I signed with Wilhelmina until I was almost 21. A few months after my 21st birthday, I drove 14 hours to the ANTM auditions in Nashville.

 

UP: What has been the reaction of FAU students who know about the competition?

MS: There are a few FAU students who found out about my being on the show, and they have been nothing but supportive. People who know me know that I am serious about my career and they are proud.

 

UP: How does the competition interfere with school?

MS: I started my last semester at FAU last fall, and when I got the call from ANTM, I dropped my classes to shoot the show in L.A. I will be back at FAU this summer to finish my last 12 credits and get my theatre degree.

 

UP: What were you most nervous about?

MS: My biggest fear about ANTM was that people would get a distorted view of who I am as a person, but now I realize that the only people who can ever really know me … are the few people who really know me, and I’m comfortable with that.

 

UP: What does this competition mean to you?

MS: This competition is huge for me. Everything that I have been doing for the past six years has been leading up to this, and I want to be sure that I have done everything in my power to realize my dream. I try to be myself and work as hard as I can to produce good work.

 

UP: Why do you think you should win?

MS: I think I should win America’s Next Top Model because I have a fire inside of me and I am willing to work for my ambitions. I would never do anything if I wasn’t passionate about it because life is too fleeting to waste time doing something you hate. I love what I do, and I realize that modeling isn’t just about being the center of attention. I respect the process, and I know that it takes a lot of hard work from a lot of people to start with an idea and transform that into a photograph.

 

UP: How many girls did you compete against to get this spot?

MS: There was something like tens of thousands of girls who showed up for the ANTM auditions across the country, whether it was in person, online or through video submission.

To be one of the final 14 is such a huge honor. I am so grateful for the opportunities that being in this competition has provided me with, and I don’t plan on squandering that.

 

UP: What has been the hardest part so far?

MS: The hardest part of the whole process was being so far away from my family and best friends. It sounds cliché, but they really are my support system. I live a mile from my parents, and all four of my siblings live in Boca, so it was weird to go from seeing them all the time to not at all. I am used to calling my mom and dad all the time.

 

UP: Which judge were you most excited to meet?

MS: I loved getting to meet André Leon Talley. He is so full of energy and he makes great and honest observations. He knows his stuff and it’s no wonder that he is such a success in the fashion industry.

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