by Makida Moka

”Being awake doesn’t mean I’m entitled to be awake.”

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing that crosses my mind is ‘’Thank God I’m awake coz loads of people didn’t wake up.’’ Being awake doesn’t mean I’m entitled to be awake. However, when I’m at school, sometimes I wake up 10 minutes to my class and the first thing that comes to my mind is ‘’OMG!’’ and then I just run. So it really depends, I don’t have anyone that organizes my schedule … so it’s just me. I’m my own people ( like when they say I’ll have my people, call your people).

It’s crazy most of the time, striking a balance between my career and my academics. When I’m closer to my exams, that’s usually when I’ve got a lot of stuff going on (This happens every semester). For instance, the GTB Design Week that took place last year; after that event, I had an exam the next day – That was when I put a post on my Instagram page, saying: fun and games over, back to the books. Even when I was shooting ‘Gidi Up’, I kept shuttling to and fro school. It’s amazing that I’ve actually not missed any test or exams or failed any course.

Well, every career has its peculiarities, right? Right. As a person in the beauty industry, there are things I can’t do because of my line of business. There’s the issue of my hair. I figured out the look that works for me largely is a centre part long weave. Most of the time, I need to have that on, plus I can’t have my hair grow out natural because the texture is very coarse. I also cannot braid my hair; the last time I did that, I had my braids on for only 2 weeks and then I had to take it out. What really pained me then was that as soon as I stepped out of the salon, I got a call and they were like ‘’ Hi Makida, we wanna do a shoot for a hair bonding glue advert’’ and I said to myself, ‘’ Really? Like you guyz couldn’t possibly have called me a few hours ago?’’ and they make it worse by adding ‘’ We need someone who has a weave on’’ and I was like ‘’ Thank you’’. It was sad, I had to have my friend do that shoot.

Then, oh no, I don’t go under the sun because my skin is not very forgiving. So, it’s just better to stay away from the sun. There was a time we were shooting on the beach and when I got home, you could see the marks on my skin. It didn’t go away for weeks, so I try to run away from things that could hurt/scar it for a long time.

When it comes to acting, runway and modelling, it’s really hard for me to choose just one because I’m really starting to like acting. But acting is really demanding – learning how to express your emotions, like in a crying scene or something. When you’re asked to cry, you need to cry on demand, you don’t keep crying for the rest of the day (lol). But I like doing it because it means that I’m challenging myself. Unlike ‘runway’, which is one straight face and then you walk down and then you’re done. But I love runway as well because, there’s this rush that comes with it; after waiting (sometimes the whole day), to get your hair and nails done, there’s an anticipation to get on the catwalk. When I’m on the runway, I don’t see anything. All I see is heads and lights.

Shoots? Oh, they are so nice because you get to see the pictures after. The shoot I really loved was the shoot I did for 2013 Christmas issue of Mania – The one with Iro and Buba. It was 10 different hair styles, all the looks were different so I had to change the nail polish, hair, make up, all in one shoot. It was really amazing. I’m hoping to do all three of them- Modelling, acting and runway for as long as I can, really. Ironically, I never thought about a career in fashion or modelling. Back in the day, all I really did was take pictures and upload them on my hi5 page. I actually wanted to do Geology and just work in an oil company and that’s it. Modelling and fashion for me came out of the blues, all this has really changed my mindset. My mind is more open to different stuff; at the moment, I’m studying communication, so if at the end I get tired of fashion or TV, there’s always advertising or PR.

Someone asked me, how do you stay beautiful? Well, I try to stay out of the sun as much as I can because I don’t really wear sunscreen. I carry an umbrella around when I’m in school ( people have also started carrying umbrellas around school, so yeah I’m a trail blazer *winks*). Then , I don’t wear lots of makeup when I don’t have to because  during shoots and filming, I have to wear lots of makeup and if I do that all the time then that’s not the best. So, sometimes I go bare-faced with a good moisturizer on and sunglasses to protect my eyes. I exfoliate and moisturize, and then I try to drink lots of water.

To end this on a lighter note, I’ll share a pretty funny story (funny to you but embarrassing for me). At the ARISE fashion event last year, I was given a pair of shoes that weren’t my size. Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow, because you’re not the only model. So I said to myself ‘’ Makida, don’t be a diva. Just wear the shoes and try to work it out’’ – This was my mindset.  As soon as I stepped on the runway, my shoe slipped off and one leg flew off. They have a saying in the theatre ‘’ The show must go on’’. I was wobbling along the runway, I was just doing my best to get to the end and turn back. So I did that, and the next day I saw a picture of myself at that event on the internet and I’m like ‘’ Great you guyz, well done’’. I’m happy that not a lot of people I knew talked about it because it was really embarrassing, but funny too.

That’s about it on a day in Makida’s life.

Xoxo.

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Makida Moka is a top model and 2010 Face of Sleek. She tweets from@TheMakidaMoka

30 Days 30 Voices series is an opportunity for young Nigerians from across the world to share their stories and experiences – creating a meeting point where our common humanity is explored.

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija