Study halls to photoshoots. Science labs to scripts. Students at Lincoln have found passion and success in modeling and acting. Modeling agencies located in Portland include Q6 Model and Artist Management, The Option Agency, PDX Models and Reaction Models and Talent.

Senior Jenny Chen is a model signed to Reaction Models and Talent. She recently did a photoshoot with Doc Martens for their new 1460 velvet boots and was featured in their advertisements in-store. Her shoot was also posted by the Vogue Magazine Instagram account (@voguemagazine). Chen says the shoot is one of her proudest accomplishments.

For Chen, modeling has helped her boost her self-confidence. The desire to feel more confident was one of the things that inspired her to start her career.

“I didn’t really like the way I looked just because I’m an ethnic minority, so I didn’t see a lot of people that looked like me,” said Chen. “After I started modeling, I realized that people actually liked the way I looked, so I should stop caring [about looks] and focus on caring about more important things.”

Sophomore Coco Litch acts, dances and has starred in commercials, educational videos and short films. She found her passion for acting during the COVID-19 pandemic when she would spend a lot of time watching movies. She says acting is a form of art and self-expression.

“It is really important to share people’s stories and their perspectives with the world,” said Litch. “[Acting] is a cool and beautiful art form. A lot of people don’t think about the detail that goes into making movies or commercials and it is really interesting to me.”

One of Litch’s favorite parts about acting is taking different classes about a variety of topics, including advertising and acting for film and television.

“Any time I’m in a class it helps me work on my craft and … feel like I am improving. I like hearing feedback,” said Litch.

Senior Kaili Olsson has been a model with Q6 Model and Artist Management for around seven months. She modeled when she was three years old and got back into it last summer. Her favorite moments in her modeling career so far have been her photoshoots.

“Taking the first digitals, photoshoots or practice photos was a change because I am not really used to doing that or being expressive in that kind of way,” said Olsson.

One challenge that these students have encountered is balancing schoolwork with their modeling and acting careers. Litch has limited the amount of acting classes that she is doing to once a week and plans to increase that amount this summer.

“Obviously I’m going to be prioritizing school because that’s my main priority, but it’s just hard to balance everything,” said Litch.

Chen and Olsson are considering modeling part-time after high school, and Litch is interested in possibly studying cinematography or film. Chen plans to go out of state for college.

“I’m probably not gonna go to college in Oregon, so wherever I go I’ll see if I can also get signed there [with a modeling agency],” said Chen.