I tapped my foot excitedly, anxious for the day ahead. My nervous thoughts swirled together with enthusiastic anticipations. This could be my big break, don't screw this up. I thought to myself as I stared out of the window.

My mind traveled back to how this all started; in the mall. A tall, professional-looking woman, in high heels, and a pencil skirt approached me. She had a huge, friendly, smile on her face that stretched ear to ear. My heart started to race when it became apparent she was approaching me. "Hello" she said enthusiastically to my mom. "I wanted to say how beautiful your daughter is. Have you considered modeling?"

I smiled when I thought back to that moment. I looked down at the card in my hand; the card she gave me to go to the modeling audition I was going to now. After that wonderful moment, I thought that today would be the start of my new career. I thought that, that was the best day of my life.

When I arrived at the tryouts, I turned in the card and filled in some information about myself. This was very important; the crucial information that decided whether I would become a famous model or not. I looked around and saw that other girls were there too . . .my competition.

After watching a slideshow, about how we could become famous after participating in this program, my excitement grew. The first activity was the cat walk. We had to walk down the aisle, pose at the end and walk back. This is when my shyness, and nervousness shone through. My walk was not nearly as sassy as some of the other girls; my smile not even close to as stunning. A woman who appeared to be the head of the audition took a moment to tell all the parents and girls, that there were only a few spots left, and only a handful of very lucky children have gotten a spot on the team at the previous convention. I was crushed when I heard that. There was no way I could beat out these other girls. I came here for nothing.

Everyone's competitiveness grew.We then had to memorize a short script and read the lines for a commercial. They started calling people up to talk to three women at different tables in the back. My name finally was called to my surprise.The women asked me to do a walk with a turn at the end, then took photos of me posing. She claimed this program would help me become less shy, and that I would be able to get the job I want with my new found interview skills I would acquire. After a twenty to thirty minute interview, she looked excited. "Well, I like you.You really stood out to me. I want you on the team.”

“Oh my god! Really!?” I said in complete amazement and disbelief.

"You made it. Congratulations. You got one of the last spots." The women who interviewed me said, smiling.

She gave us the papers to look at, reviewing some information about the program with us. "Two-thousand dollars?" I gulped after realizing the price to be a part of this “team.” I thought modeling agencies did not charge. They took a certain percentage of your profit from when you model.

“Oh, this isn't a modeling agency, this is a modeling school.” Said the women, surprised that we were unaware of this apparent fact. This is to learn to become a model, so then you'll be ready for the modeling agencies, that come to look at you at the end of the course. “Oh, but there's no guarantee that an agency will pick you.” She made sure to add. I looked around and saw everyone other girl that was there before jumping up and down with excitement. Their parents were beaming saying “You did it!” to their children. I thought only a handful would make it but it appeared that everyone had made it. This seemed fishy.

I ended up leaving that convention, without a spot on that team. We had the money, but were unsure of the validity of this modeling school, or if anything positive would actually come out of the experience. We did not want to take the chance. I read reviews about the school. The people who went, said negative things about how you do not get nearly as much of the package as the sale-people claimed you would. This confirmed my intuition. I learned from this experience a valuable lesson; I should not jump to conclusions. Not all things are as they seem. The slideshow got you thinking that you could one day be like these famous people we see on television everyday, because they went to this school when they were a kid. The sales woman made me feel special; "You stood out." And finally, they gave me a sense of urgency, "There's only a few spots left" when clearly everyone was accepted. These are the mind tricks of a salesperson.