For Haley Poe of Waterford, the last three years have been challenging, frustrating and exciting at the same time.
From beginning her pageant career to being diagnosed with PCOS, studying pre-med at Gannon University and walking the New York Fashion Week show three weeks ago, the 19-year-old has achieved balance it all.
But Poe has high aspirations to become both a successful model and a doctor of osteopathic medicine.
“It’s great to have both because I’d be mentally exhausted if I was in the lab all the time, but I’d be mentally exhausted if I was modeling all the time,” she said. “When you do a lot, you learn to drive a lot, so doing both at the same time has really gotten me used to noticing that.”
Poe found confidence through competing in different beauty pageants.
At 16, Poe began competing in beauty pageants. He didn’t win the first one from her, but he gained confidence.
“People don’t realize that the reason girls compete in beauty pageants is not because they’re too confident or want a title, it’s because of the confidence they get from doing it, because to compete you have to know yourself. “. well, and work so hard on yourself to get rid of some of those problems,” she said.
Around the age of 17, her pageant participation began to attract the attention of big-box dress stores, such as Bridal Elegance in Erie and Henri’s, based in Columbus, Ohio. Poe began modeling her dresses as well as dresses for Sherri Hill, an American fashion designer.
Her modeling career took off when Rene Bionat, founder of Beauty It’s Everywhere and Art & Beauty magazine, chose her as the cover model for the NYFW issue several weeks before the big show.
“From seeing me compete on live broadcasts and enter competitions, we bonded and eventually he (Bionat) was like, ‘I’m going to give you the cover of this and you’re going to walk on these (NYFW) shows.'” Poe said.
A weekend at New York Fashion Week
In early September, Poe arrived in Manhattan for NYFW, where she was greeted by her own sign in Times Square.
Seeing photos of herself in Times Square was just the first highlight of the weekend for Poe.
“I got into seven shows, which everyone else at that show limited to five,” Poe said. “My toes are still numb and it was (several) weeks ago, so I’d call it a success.”
All seven of Poe’s shows took place at The New Yorker Hotel, an art deco hotel in midtown Manhattan. Poe said that he walked the runway in front of a crowd of nearly 100 people.
“My favorite (show) was probably That’s My Dress Prom & Pageant, which is a Virginia-based store and I made an evening gown for them,” Poe said.
After one of his walks, Poe was presented with an enlarged version of his NYFW cover.
“He was screaming when they gave him his cover, it was the sweetest thing,” said Christy Sensor, Poe’s mother. “It was a surreal moment in his career, it all came together.”
The weekend was a memorable experience for Poe, but her dedication to her studies at Gannon keeps her humble.
“I was driving home from NYFW and I was on FaceTime with my grandma and she was like, ‘Are you going to get a big head about how you’re a model now?’ And I was like, ‘No obviously not, I have a fetal pig dissection on Monday. I’m too busy to be in that headspace,'” Poe said.
Create a personal platform from a personal struggle
When Poe isn’t walking the runways, she’s working toward becoming a doctor of osteopathic medicine.
Her interest in holistic medicine stems from her personal struggles with polycystic ovary syndrome, a hormonal disorder that causes enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges.
“I started having symptoms when I was 11 years old and was referred to family doctors, dermatologists, I even saw a plastic surgeon,” Poe said. “Everyone just ignored it.”
It wasn’t until Poe turned 18 that he finally got his doctors to test him for PCOS.
“At least I wanted to know because it really affected my self-esteem and my self-image as a kid,” Poe said.
Poe was sent to an endocrinologist, who discovered from her blood results that she might have PCOS or a pituitary gland tumor.
“We did another blood test and it came back PCOS,” Poe said. “I knew it was going to be okay because I’d done enough research, but it was really ridiculous to me that we’re in a place in women’s health where somebody can have something for seven years and you missed it enough…what if there was Was it a brain tumor?
Poe doesn’t want other women to face the same obstacles she does, so she plans to specialize in endocrinology and gynecology. She also made PCOS her contest platform, advocating for women’s health.
“You don’t necessarily want to go on stage and talk about something that personal, but I feel like I’m in a position where I should be,” Poe said. “It seemed obvious to me that it had to be my platform because I struggled with it a lot myself.
“If I can get someone to talk about it, we talk about it… the interesting thing is that every time it happens, I always find someone who has it or knows someone who has it or thinks they have those symptoms.”
Sensor has witnessed her daughter’s journey navigating this disorder and the confidence she exudes when she talks about it during competitions.
“She took it and she owned it and I think it shows a very strong character of a person … to talk about something like that, because it’s very female-oriented and it’s a barrier-breaking kind of conversation,” Sensor said. .
For Poe, having it all doesn’t seem so hard to comprehend.
Now assisting Gannon, Poe is reaching for the stars.
As a sophomore at Gannon, Poe is chairman of the Gannon University Honors Program, editor of Honors Student News, and a recent member of the Gamma Sigma Epsilon National Honor Society.
After completing his bachelor’s degree, Poe hopes to attend medical school at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. She also plans to continue building her contest platform.
“I want to create my own website,” Poe said. “I’m still not sure exactly what I want it to look like, but I could have workout plans, diet plans for PCOS. I’m also thinking of more models for sure.”
Over the next few weeks, Poe plans to apply to modeling agencies in hopes that they will send her to different jobs, such as walking runways or participating in photo shoots.
It may seem like a lot to some, but Poe is confident that he can handle it all.
“I love doing it and people don’t realize how well they work together because you get paid to model and medical school is expensive,” she said. “I could compete for Miss Pennsylvania USA in the spring, but it depends on my school schedule because I can’t miss any labs.”
Baylee DeMuth can be reached at 814-450-3425 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BayleeDeMuth.
Source: news.google.com