夢想與你，只有一個機會的距離

By+Carissa+Hyland++安落實

Growing up， I was always totally in love with fashion. I'm the type of girl that spends two hours in Forever 212）， stalks3） Fashion Week trends and spends way too much money on clothes. And while I have dreamed about building a career in fashion， I'm well aware that it's not easy to make a name for yourself in the field. Despite this， I decided against pursuing a career in medicine to follow my dream and went to West Virginia University to study Fashion Design and Merchandising4）.

When I landed an internship at Girls' Life （GL） this past spring， I was thrilled to be able to write articles for the website， sit in on5） editorial meetings and help pick the cover for the August/September issue. But when GL editor-in-chief Karen asked if anyone wanted to help out in the fashion closet （our home for all of the clothes， accessories6）， shoes and beauty products used for our shoots7））， I jumped at the opportunity. At first， my job was to take credits8） for the upcoming denim9） shoot. After spending so much time with the clothes， I knew I just had to go onsite for the shoot. My parents always told me to speak up when I want something， so I gathered up the courage to ask Karen if I could help out on the shoot.

Not only did she say yes， but she told me that I could help out at both the denim shoot and the athleisure10） shoot the following week. The denim shoot was totally amazing， so I couldn't wait for the on-location athleisure shoot （held at a local soccer complex11）） the next day. When the photographer asked me to help him test the lighting for a few shots， I was super excited. When one of the two models didn't show up and I was asked to step in12） for her， I was blown away13）.

Before I knew it， I was sitting in hair and makeup， being fitted for my outfit and standing in front of the photographer， striking a pose. It's still such a surreal14） experience， but one that I will remember for the rest of my life. （And my mom won't let me forget it either—I swear she buys an issue every time she goes to the grocery store.） Never in a million years did I think I would be in a magazine， let alone on four pages of a major fashion spread15）. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity， but it would never have happened if I didn't speak up and ask to be a part of it. So， don't give up on your dreams ... but don't be afraid to do everything you can to help reach them， either.

從小到大，我一直都對時裝充滿了迷戀。我是那種能在Forever 21服裝店逛上兩個小時，會追趕各種時裝周潮流，還會花大把錢買衣服的女孩。雖然我一直夢想著在時裝界創立一番事業，但我很清楚，想在這個領域成名并沒那么容易。盡管如此，我還是決定不去從醫，而要去追隨我的夢想。于是，我上了西弗吉尼亞大學，去學服裝設計和營銷。

在剛剛過去的這個春季（編注：英文原文發表于2016年2月），我在《女孩生活》雜志社得到一個實習機會，我很高興能夠為該雜志的網站撰寫文章、參加編輯會議、幫著挑選8-9月合刊的封面。但當《女孩生活》雜志主編卡倫詢問是否有人想去時裝間（這是我們存放拍攝用的所有衣服、飾品、鞋子和化妝品的地方）幫忙時，我立馬抓住了這個機會。起初，我的工作是為即將進行的牛仔服拍攝活動記賬。在和衣服打了很長時間的交道后，我知道我得去拍攝現場。我的父母總是告訴我，想要什么就說出來，于是我鼓起勇氣去問卡倫我是否可以去拍攝現場幫忙。

她不僅同意了，而且還告訴我，下周要進行的牛仔服拍攝和運動休閑服拍攝我都可以去幫忙。牛仔服拍攝真是太棒了，所以我迫不及待地想參加第二天的運動休閑服外景拍攝（在當地的一個足球場進行）。當攝影師要給我拍幾張照片來幫他測試照明設備時，我感到無比興奮。當兩名模特中有一位缺席，我被要求代替她時，我欣喜若狂。

不知不覺中，我就已經在做頭發和化妝，穿上了適合我的服裝，站在了那位攝影師面前，擺出了造型。時至今日，這經歷依舊是那么不真實，但在有生之年，我都不會忘記它。（我媽媽也不會讓我忘記它——我敢打包票，她每次去雜貨鋪都要買一期《女孩生活》雜志回來。）我做夢也沒想到自己會出現在一本雜志上，更不用說出現在一個四頁的時裝廣告中，而且還是那種跨頁的大廣告。我非常感激有這次機會，但如果我當時不說出來，也沒去爭取參與其中的話，這一切就永遠不可能發生。所以，不要放棄你的夢想，但也一定不要害怕去做任何能夠幫助你實現夢想的事情。