When a high schooler says they have a career, they usually are referring to their excellence in assembling Subway sandwiches. Yet, despite many of her peers working in food service, babysitting, and tutoring, Sophomore Arshia Kathpalia’s career has never been mundane to her. Not only is she an actress…she’s also a model.

Chasing her childhood dream of becoming an actress, Kathpalia began auditioning for virtual acting positions five months into the pandemic. 

“Over COVID, there was just so much more time,” Kathpalia said. “A lot of virtual audition opportunities were opened up by the pandemic, making it easier to get into acting.”

Initially, Kathpalia believed her pandemic-induced career venture would stay limited to acting. Little did she know, another career path would fall into her hands.

“I never thought of going into modeling,” Kathpalia said. “A photographer reached out to me on Instagram looking for senior photo models. From then on, I was hooked.”

Kathpalia quickly found herself in love with the modeling experience, expanding her Instagram to catch the attention of more local photographers. 

“As I kept posting my modeling pictures on Instagram, more photographers started reaching out to me. Then I started reaching out to photographers,” Kathpalia said. “My social media transformed into my resume; it’s how I advertise myself to photographers and brands.”

However, Kathpalia’s growth on Instagram didn’t come without its fair share of challenges.

“Since I do use social media to showcase my modeling, I have experienced photographers telling me I’m ugly or fat or that my acne is an issue,” Kathpalia said. “One time I was told that I wasn’t Indian enough for a role.”

As a South Asian woman, Kathpalia is keenly aware of how her industry treats diversity. With acting and modeling both being competitive fields that revolve around appearance, Kathpalia has noticed diversity being included for the sake of keeping up with trends, instead of to represent marginalized people.

“Even though the industry is branching out to include more diversity, it tends to be on either extreme of the spectrum,” Kathpalia said. “For example, many agencies look for either plus size models or very skinny models. There is no middle ground.”

In her industry, appearances are often very controlled at the cost of sacrificing natural human imperfections, creating unrealistic beauty standards.

“When I shoot with a photographer, they just automatically edit out any loose hairs or acne. It limits diversity from being shown,” Kathpalia said. “Those pictures are no longer real, everything is edited out. That presents a fake image that can have a negative effect on people’s mental health.”

Kathpalia hopes that the growth of her platform will help fight back against this negative aspect of the modeling industry.

“I do want to inspire people, but I also just think it’s fun,” Kathpalia said. “For me, it’s a bit of both.”

Inspiring others is not the only goal Kathpalia has. She has slowly been working up to achieving larger success in both acting and modeling.

“I would love to be in films,” Kathpalia said. “I do have a goal to be on the front cover of a magazine, but many of my goals are stepping stone goals. First it was to be in a magazine, then it was to be on the back cover, and now I’m working up to the front cover.”

Having been in three magazines in just over a year of modeling, and having acted in a short film, Kathpalia is no stranger to the spotlight. However, she doesn’t see fame and fortune as her end goal. 

“It’s not like I want to be the biggest star in the world,” Kathpalia said. “My hope is to go to a college where I can major in computer science and minor in acting. Even if it’s not a big thing in my life, I still want to dedicate a small part of my life to modeling and acting. ”

As a studious person, Kathpalia often finds herself juggling school work with her career. Despite the difficulties that come with this, Kathpalia has also seen her career help her unwind from the stress school brings.

“I find modeling and acting stress relieving,” Kathpalia said. “When I’m done with school, all I want to do is have a photoshoot or model. It’s relaxing, and it makes me feel good about myself.”

Kathpalia’s passion for what she does keeps her going, even when she faces opposition. The perseverance she’s gained from the last few years of acting and modeling has been essential to dealing with the countless rejections that often come with her career. 

“You can’t give up when there’s 50,000 applicants for one position,” Kathpalia said. “At first it was hard for me to face those rejections I was receiving. Later on, you get used to it. You can’t just be like, ‘Oh my god, I got two rejections. I’m done’.”

It’s through having strong perseverance and advocating for herself that Kathpalia has been able to grow her platform and achieve her goals. 

“Don’t wait for someone to reach out to you,” Kathpalia said. “Some people spend forever waiting to be seen by a photographer. You have to put yourself out there in order for people to start seeing you.”

Kathpalia’s success is attributed to her inability to give up in the face of adversity and her love for her work. To others who may want to go into acting or modeling, Kathpalia shares crucial advice:

“Keep on being persistent. Modeling is something where you really have to put the work in,” Kathpalia said. “You have to push past the negativity and the insecurities others may bring out in you. You have to pursue it; you have to keep working towards your goals.”