WHY SPONSOR KYRA FURLONG'S EDUCATION?
What Has Kyra Been Doing Since Graduation (2016)
I have a rare skin disorder called Vitiligo
After graduation I worked full time until I had enough saved to move to Toronto, to pursue modelling. Even though the odds were against me, with no agency interested in signing me, and told me I would never make it, I had a much bigger purpose that I would not quit until I achieve.
With having Vitiligo, and the confidence within myself, I pushed through the struggles so I can continue to build the awareness of Vitiligo, being part of the world wide Vitiligo community, and even with people who do not have Vitiligo, I want them to hear my story so they can grow and hopefully get over self appearance issues they have.
With having Vitiligo, it was extremely challenging growing up, I had people refer to me as a "cow" , "giraffe", and "dalmatian", majority of people thought my white spots were contagious and would not come near me. With also moving provinces 6 times before the age of 20, having this unique look caused more fear of being the new kid.
I had a lot of self appearance issues, till the age of 17, so I decided if I was not happy with myself than lets start from hippieness from the inside and go from there.
Since I buckled down and focused strictly on academics, my art, community involvement, musical performances, sports and fitness. Even though I wore makeup and clothes to hide my spots, I did not give any energy towards my appearance, and channeled that energy into other valuable priories. It worked, for, now all I thought people saw when they looked at me was a healthy, strong, smart, caring, helpful, funny, hard working, encouraging, nice, positive, beautiful women.
That is when I realized, at now age 19, I always loved my skin, it was just others irrelevant opinions that influenced my own opinion on my self worth.
You are the only one that makes something a reality in your life, so do not give others the entitlement to false identify you. Because that's what I thought about myself, and that was the only opinion that matters.
I believe my positive energy also was what was causing the world around me to seem more kind than before. My new friends that I made down the line mentioned they did not even notice I had Vitiligo till I pointed it out. I assume that is because I didn't let what I thought others consider as a flaw, affect on how I wanted those people to see me as the person I really was.
It is funny how life works, my confidence as a individual peaked , a friend asked me to model for her to build her photography portfolio. “Model for a day? Why not?”
I would never have imagined how much I fell in love with being in front of the camera and I actually saw the beauty of the Vitiligo captured in the picture. Just like my role model, and Vitiligo Queen, Winnie Harlow.
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Not only did I fall in love with feeling I got while modelling, but I saw once that was the most negative thing in my life, is now the biggest asset of the picture. It makes me unique.
I conquered another milestone of confidence, the thought of me wanting to express myself through my skin, was mind blowing to me.
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I did not put my education on the back burner to pursue in modelling strictly based on appearance.
It is because I have a story to share.
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Making the decision to go back to school was challenging, for I still love modelling and being a role model, in the fashion industry. However, I have only made $300 dollars in total from the 2 years I have been in modelling. There is sadly no financial benefit from being a model; the people I was inspiring is what kept me going.
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If I want to continue sustaining myself and living a valuable life, with also continuing to spread awareness of Vitiligo and self love, I decided to have a career I am also patient in (aviation) and have a really cool modelling hobby!
My Short Documentary
