By the end of the year, an Angel will lose her wings.

After four years with Victoria’s Secret and two years as one of eight Angels, Karlie Kloss is leaving the sexy lingerie brand to focus her modeling career on other opportunities and begin studying at New York University in the fall.

I have to give Kloss props for deciding to take a small step back from her modeling career to clear some time for her education. Not many people would give up such a big contract as one with Victoria’s Secret in order to get their degree.

According to an article in Vogue’s March issue, Kloss revealed she was accepted to NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. “I was waiting for the mail to arrive every single day,” she told the magazine. “It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time.”

Even with her decision to start school, Kloss has decided not to let her modeling career be affected by her new student lifestyle. This past year Kloss acquired several new modeling contracts, adding to her hectic schedule. Kloss has secured spring campaigns with Kate Spade and Joe Fresh, and is the face of L’Oréal Paris. She is also modeling for advertising campaigns of fashion superstars Marc Jacobs and Jason Wu, fashion spreads in Vogue Paris and an InStyle Germany cover.

Talk about a full schedule.

Most models have to pick one side — their education or their career. Often, a model’s career is over by her mid-twenties, so agencies want young girls to make the most of their teenage years before they are considered too old by the industry.

Agents often encourage their models to leave high school and hire a tutor, if they are able to afford one, which interrupts the pursuit of a university degree. In their eyes, models’ education can be put off until they are past their prime, since there is only a small window for their success.

Modeling schedules are very fluid. Things change at the last minute, and everything — from the price to the time to the place of a job — is always changing. In college, on the other hand, everything is extremely rigid. Classes occur at certain times and classrooms have set rules.

It can often be very hard for models to tell their agents that they cannot miss class to go to a casting, even if it is for a very good client. Most agents can’t comprehend other commitments for their models and require that they be able to meet with all potential clients and take as many contracts as they can.

For many models, getting into the industry can be enough of a challenge. And even those who do make it in the industry often have a career that is short-lived. Taking a step back, even a small one, could end up being detrimental to their career.

But for Kloss, deciding to pursue her education was the right move. She’s already shown ambition in her career by taking the fashion world by storm with contracts with high-profile designers and spreads in the world’s top magazines.

And she’s shown ambition in her personal life by raising money for charities, like through her baking hobby with Karlie’s Kookies. She has taken a course at the Harvard Business School, and enrolled in a coding class to learn how to program drones at the Flatiron School.

Kloss has already proven herself as someone with drive and desire to succeed. She’s decided to put both her career and education at the forefront of her life, something that more women should try to do. She’s proof that women don’t have to choose one side over the other.

Alexis McDonell is a junior magazine journalism major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email her at admcdone@syr.edu.

Published on March 16, 2015 at 12:01 am