For most students the second semester of their senior year is full of studying for AP exams, finals, sending out graduation cards and receiving acceptance letters. However, this is not the case for senior Austin Barnes. Barnes will be spending his second semester on the coast of California, modeling.

     Barnes will make a decision in October for which mother agency he wants to sign with in New York and will be graduating in December when the first semester is over. 

     “I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to model when I was scouted by a photographer in Scottsdale, Arizona to take digitals at her studio,” Barnes said. “After I did that, I went to Los Angeles and met with an agent and did a big shoot with a very successful pair of photographers. This is when I realized that this could be a real possibility for work.” 

     In order for him to graduate early, Barnes has to complete all of his required credits by the end of the first semester. 

     “Given that I have not always planned to do this, and I have not had a schedule that would allow me to graduate early, I had to take two credit-by-exam English tests in order for me to get my English credit,” Barnes said. “I also had to take both Theater One and Tech Theater this semester, so I could get both semesters of my art credit in one semester.” 

     Barnes will be staying with family members who already live in Los Angeles. However, he will have to travel for different job opportunities and will be flying in and out of California often. 

     “I will be modeling in many different parts of the world,” Barnes said. “Where exactly I will be depends on each future job that I get. But for now, I plan to at least go to New York, Paris, Milan and Los Angeles.”

     Over the past three years, Barnes has worked to receive automatic admission into the University of Texas at Austin and still plans to attend, whether that be in the fall, in a year, or whenever the time best fits. Barnes said that he understands the value of a college education and does want to experience it one day. However, for now, if modeling opportunities are good enough to keep working, then that is what he will do for the time being. 

     “While I know that I will miss the last semester of my high school career, I believe that I made the most out of the time that I had at Rouse, and I am very excited for the future,” Barnes said. “It makes it much easier knowing that I will be doing something productive and worthwhile with the time that I will not be at Rouse.”