Apparently she doesn't have "the look"

I recently wrote a story for the Prince George's Sentinel about a local woman on TV Land's "She's got the Look." It was a profile piece on a woman named Raquel Riley, who lives in Clinton, Md. Well, turns out she got eliminated from the competition on last night's show. I guess she doesn't quite have the look after all. Oh well, it was still exciting to see her on TV after I got to do my interview.

Here is the story below:
From camouflage to couture gowns, one 35-year-old resident of Clinton is getting the chance to fulfill her dreams, and possibly win $100,000 along the way.
Raquel Riley, a former captain in the United States Army, is trading in her military garb for something a little more glamorous on season two of TV Land’s show She’s Got The Look, a show about women 35 and older who want to become models.
The winner of the show receives a contract with Wilhelmina Models, Inc., a photo spread in SELF Magazine and $100,000, according to a TV Land press release.
Riley tried out for the show after seeing the first season and getting many e-mails from friends telling her to audition.
I’ll be honest, I just took a chance,” Riley said about her reasons for auditioning, adding that the judges asked her to do push-ups in her high heels after hearing about her military background.
“[The judges] didn’t think I could still do them,” Riley laughed.
The Clinton resident made it on the show along with 20 other semifinalists. After completing a challenge, she and nine other women were selected to live in a loft in New York City while they competed on the show, according to the press release.
The show has finished filming for the season and a winner has been selected to win the three prizes; however, audiences will have to watch the show to find out who the winner is.
“I always wondered what it would be like to be on a runway and wear beautiful clothes,” Riley said.
And Riley and the nine other women, who range in age from 35 to 72, get the chance to do just that.
But it isn’t all glamorous. The worst part about the show, according to Riley, is getting critiqued by the judges.
“It is one thing to [change your look] when you are 15, and another thing to do it when you are 35 because now you feel like you’ve been doing it all wrong,” she said. “But they are critiquing you for modeling purposes, not for your day-to-day look.”
As for the competition on the show, Riley said she feels she had none.
“For me, I am my own worst critic. If things didn’t go right, I knew it was because of something I put forth,” she said. “It is a competition with models, but it is really a competition with yourself because you have to decide if it is something you really want to do.”
For Riley, she is certain this dream is something worth following, and being surrounded by glamorous men and women on the show convinced her that she wants this even more.
“I did it for myself and I did it to represent other military women. To see these beautiful women, it made me say that I can do the exact same thing,” Riley said. “I represent women in the military. We can be just like you, we just happen to be able to kick your butt and shoot guns.”
Riley, a wife and mother of four daughters, said her family is very supportive of her following her dream. She and her husband sat down prior to the show to make a plan in case she made it on.
“I want to set an example for my daughters that just because you are a littler older than when you first had a dream doesn’t mean you have to give up on it,” she said.
Riley and her family have only lived in Clinton since October, when her husband accepted a job in Washington, D.C., but already this model-in-training said she loves the area.
“The houses out here are gorgeous… and the back roads are beautiful,” she said. “It is just a good community to live in,” she said, adding that one of her favorite spots in Clinton is Miller Farm, on Piscataway Road. “They sell homemade ice cream, and their homemade biscuits are to die for. Oh my gosh, I love that place. We go there often.”
Members of the Clinton community are proud to have Riley as a neighbor. Mary McHale, a columnist for The Sentinel who lives near Riley, said, “It’s always exciting when a hometown girl makes good. She’ll help put Clinton, Md., on the map.”
At the end of the day, Riley said she knows that you just have to follow your dreams, and that is a message she and the other women on the show are sending as they embark on a journey to become models at an older age.
“Do not get deterred by naysayers. Make sure you keep focused on exactly what you want to do,” “Don’t stop. Continue to dream.” Riley said.
She’s Got the Look airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on TV Land.

A day of deaths...

So, yesterday morning started off with a really bad accident by my house. Traffic was a mess heading down toward UMD... and I found out later that a motorcyclist died maybe 1/10 of a mile from my house.

Then, Farrah Fawcett passed away. My mom was telling me about this special on TV that documents her struggle with cancer. She said it was one of the hardest things she's ever watched because Fawcett had so much will to live and never gave up, but you can only do so much apparently.

And Michael Jackson passed away. First off, CNN should be extremely embarrassed that it took them at least 2 hours to confirm his death, which the LA Times was reporting around 5:30 p.m. I've heard mixed reactions about his death. A roommate's boyfriend said it was about time since he looked like death for so many years. And others are sad that the pop legend is gone. But, on the bright side, I did get to listen to 4 or 5 of his songs on the way to work.... which is awesome because radio stations never play MJ. He was truly an awesome singer.... And hey, definitely still doing the Thriller dance at my wedding!

Oh, and apparently people were spoofing, saying Jeff Goldblum died yesterday, too. Messed up, but hilarious.

Hello, blog.

First blog post, woo! Not convinced that anyone will ever read this, but if you do, enjoy!

My name is Jess and I'm a student at the University of Maryland, College Park (Go Terps!) I study journalism and am doing a concentration/certificate program in women's studies.

I work for our school paper, The Diamondback, which was recently ranked No. 2 best daily paper in the nation! I do copy editing, news editing and tried my hand at reporting a couple semesters ago. This upcoming semester I'll be an assistant managing editor, as well as the general assignment editor. Our paper is awesome (did I mention we were No. 2 in the nation??)!

This summer I'm interning for the Prince George's Sentinel. I absolutely love it there. The people are amazing and I get to do so much cool stuff (layouts, stories, editing, photos...).

Other cool stuff... I started my own jewelry business (if you can call it a business). I call my company Jewels by Jessica Evelyn and I sell my stuff on Smashing Darling, a website for indie designers. I've also sold my jewelry creations at craft fair(s). It's a lot of fun and a lot of people seem to get a kick out of the fact that I make my own jewelry.

So, that's me and what I do with my life in a nutshell.