{"id":11083,"date":"2014-11-20T08:08:13","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T13:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quantumnew.esu.edu\/insider\/?p=11083"},"modified":"2014-11-20T08:08:13","modified_gmt":"2014-11-20T13:08:13","slug":"from-brooklyn-to-the-runway-esu-sophomore-returns-to-finish-what-she-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/from-brooklyn-to-the-runway-esu-sophomore-returns-to-finish-what-she-started\/","title":{"rendered":"From Brooklyn to the Runway, ESU Sophomore Returns to Finish What She Started"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iesha Hodges is a self-proclaimed tomboy from Brooklyn, N.Y. She used to wear sneakers every day, loved sports and hated the thought of makeup. Today, she\u2019s trading in her sneakers for stilettos.<\/p>\n

A sophomore at East Stroudsburg University who walks more than just the college campus, Hodges just returned to ESU this semester after walking for Marc Jacobs during New York City fashion week for the second time.<\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>Just as she was settling into her first year at ESU, Hodges was announced the winner of V Magazine and FORD Models search at the end of her first semester of college. Soon after she heard the news, after screaming and dancing around her dorm room, Hodges packed her bags and left ESU for a semester to pursue her modeling dream.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old student and fashion model still sees herself as a \u201cnormal girl from Brooklyn.\u201d Hodges\u2019 modeling career is not something that was always in her plans. It started when she was attending high school in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn my way to school, I started having scouts approach me and ask me if I was interested in modeling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Two years later\u2014 after doing some research, building her portfolio, and going in for castings\u2014 Hodges found herself jumping into the fashion world with both feet.<\/p>\n

The V\/FORD Models win launched her career. Her winnings included representation by Ford Models, one of the industry\u2019s top agencies, a trip to Paris, and a spread in V Magazine. She walked the runaway for Marc Jacobs in the winter of 2014. She returned to ESU this semester and juggled walking for Jacobs in September for the second time with waking up the next day for her morning classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel real,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to show people my journey, and I want other people to know their dreams can come true too.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Hodges admits all this is a lot to take on for a newbie in the fashion world. She spent her first few days in Paris shaking off the nerves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a mess,\u201d she said. \u201cI was an 18-year old in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but I had absolutely no confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Confidence came with experience, and Paris wound up being Hodges\u2019 favorite, indescribable memory.<\/p>\n

It might be hard for some to believe that after spending a year backstage with Victoria\u2019s Secret models, and traveling to the fashion capital of the world, Hodges made the decision to return to her simple life at ESU.<\/p>\n

A first generation college student and the first member of her family to graduate from high school, Hodges wanted to finish what she started.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody can take your education away from you,\u201d she said. \u201cModeling will always be there but school is my number one priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hodges has big dreams that will follow her graduation from ESU in two years, but she has no intentions on sharing those dreams with the world until they come true.<\/p>\n

Hodges does, however, want to tell everyone and anyone who is willing to listen about her journey so far and inspire them to chase after their dreams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought any of this would ever happen to me, this Brooklyn girl, but if it can happen for me it can happen for anyone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hodges urges every single person to think about their dreams, write them down, and go out and make them a reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Brooklyn to the Runway, ESU Sophomore Returns to Finish What She Started<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,22,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-esu-success-stories","category-facebook","category-news-release"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11083"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11083"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11097,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11083\/revisions\/11097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}