Alyvia Dunham ‘24: A model student

24岁的Alyvia Dunham，热衷于帮助医疗领域的人们. She’s had her Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) license since 2020, the same year she graduated from Wyalusing Valley High School, is now finishing up her 生物学 她拥有mg冰球突破豪华版下载的学位，梦想有一天能成为一名医生助理.

While the New Albany, Pennsylvania-native pursues that dream, 她在镜头前，在t台上做模特，过着另一种生活. 这段经历让邓纳姆走出了自己的舒适区. 这帮助她在处理因一生都在治疗自身免疫疾病而引发的焦虑问题时成长起来, which have led to multiple hospitalizations.

“If I don’t work through my issues, 它只会让我不断后退，不允许我做事情和尝试新事物,”她说。.

邓纳姆对模特的热爱源于她早期对摄影的热爱. 那, 再加上她喜欢在高中正式舞会前和朋友们合影, made modeling intriguing. 然而, 直到大约两年前，她才有信心更认真地追求模特事业，当时她参加了埃尔迈拉本地人、时尚界专业人士乔丹·布鲁克斯提供的一个项目. Since then, she’s been featured in fashion magazines such as 6X, 马尔维, 马克西目前，她正作为Just BE的品牌大使为洛杉矶时装周做准备.72是一个通过自己的品牌促进女性赋权的服装品牌. She admits that although she’s excited about the opportunity, 她也很紧张——尽管在走秀前处理紧张情绪并不是什么新鲜事.

她解释说:“在我要走路之前，我通常会感到非常发抖，非常冷。. “I take some deep breaths. 有时我和我的朋友们会在后面跳舞，试图释放所有紧张的能量. And then I just go.”

要在模特和学校之间取得平衡——甚至她的副业是格思里的术前和康复病人护理伙伴——需要很多的组织. 邓纳姆从周一到周五集中在学校，也利用这段时间与合作者联系, including photographers, makeup artists, 发型师, 和设计师, for opportunities to do photoshoots and runways on the weekends. With her schedule, Dunham很感激课程材料能提前发布在Canvas系统中, so she can work ahead when needed. And when it comes to courses she might not be as strong in, 邓纳姆说，她的老师和欧共体的辅导支持会提供帮助.

“他们随时都可以来找我帮忙，这真的很棒，”她解释道. “I didn’t have that at my old school.”

她上一所大学也表示，由于自身免疫相关的健康问题，她将无法按时完成生物学专业的学业. 然而, that wasn’t the case at EC, 她现在能在哪里完成大四并按时毕业.

When she has to miss a day due to modeling, like the two she will have to miss during LA Fashion Week, 邓纳姆说，她所要做的就是让她的老师知道，他们会帮助她.

在她年轻的时候, because of the time she spent in hospitals, Dunham dreamed of one day becoming a doctor. 随着她持续的健康问题，她的梦想已经转变为成为一名医生助理. Dunham looks forward to continuing her educational journey, prepared not only with the biology and chemistry knowledge, 但批判性思维和沟通技巧将为前进奠定坚实的基础.

“I’ve been taking a lot of sociology, psychology, anthropology. 这些课程特别让我开阔了我的视野，试着从不同的角度思考，而不是黑白分明，因为我确实在这方面很挣扎. … I have trouble seeing the gray areas,” Dunham explained. “总的来说, 我希望它能使我成为一个全面发展的人，我将有能力和多样性在任何情况下与任何人一起工作.”

模特也帮助她为在医疗保健工作中遇到的不同类型的人和经历做好了准备.

“I used to be really shy, really reserved. Modeling allows me to not only communicate with people, but understand different cultures, how different people act based on culture, 宗教, their race because I am immersed in all of that in modeling,”她说。. “You learn how to work with others, understand them, how to just be a good person and go with the flow. 我觉得从长远来看，这对我的生物学有帮助，对我未来的职业生涯也有帮助.”

Even as she continues along in the healthcare field, Dunham plans to continue modeling as long as she can.

“我知道我不会成为那些t台上最著名的名人, but it’s a nice experience. 很有趣. I’ve made a couple of bucks doing it,”她说。. “这可能不足以支付我的账单，但这是额外的钱，这是一份副业，我喜欢它. 有些人会去打高尔夫球，打网球，游泳，但我宁愿这样做.”