I used to sit in bed at night and flip through design-school catalogs. I found out that Parsons accepted a small number of high school juniors, so I applied my sophomore year and got in.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I went to Parsons. American sportswear was my education, and that is what is important to me.
When I graduated from Parsons School of Design, the dean at that time said I would never be a designer. Obviously I didn't listen.
I'm 19 now, and I go to The New School in New York, where I study Criminal Psychology. My first week of second semester was during Fashion Week when my first editorials in 'CR Fashion Book' and 'Sports Illustrated' came out. It was crazy!
When I was 15, I was scouted at the mall by Elite Model Management. I started to go to New York on the bus in high school, which was about four hours door-to-door from my hometown, until I moved to New York and lived in models' apartments all over.
The thing about Parsons compared to the other schools is that it really teaches you how to be a designer, whereas some of the other schools teach you to sketch or teach you the technical skills. But the curriculum at Parsons when I was there was how do you put a collection together, as well as all the technical stuff. It's the best training.
I saw myself as an outsider as a teen. I was home-schooled and got my G.E.D. when I was 16; I wasn't interested in high school at all and figured that college might be more entertaining.
I applied to only one college - the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania - and was fortunate to be accepted. After graduation, I headed to Wall Street and worked as I had dreamed.
I had a tough time fitting in, as I guess most kids do. I felt like school was kind of a grand opportunity to figure yourself out and to figure out what you wanted.
I went to public school up until junior high.
I want to have a normal high-school experience.