Instead of spending seven hours at school with the rest of us, junior Taylor Sullivan jets off to castings and photoshoots. After changing to a homeschooling program in 2014, Sullivan expanded her modeling career and participated in Charleston and New York Fashion Week.

“Modeling has changed my life. I really hope to be a light in the industry,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan has been modeling for three years. She was discovered while shopping with her mom at Towne Center at Cobb in 2012 in an elevator. Sullivan signed with her first modeling agency, Element, at 11.

“I had never thought about being a model before. Me and my mom thought we would give it a try,” Sullivan said.

At first, she did mostly commercial modeling for advertisements and clothing stores.

“I enjoyed commercial [modeling], but they always wanted kids who looked young. I started looking into high fashion because I tend to look older than I am,” Sullivan said,

In 2013, Sullivan signed with FACTORwomen, a high fashion modeling agency in Atlanta, after participating in Charleston Fashion Week and falling in love with the runway. A scout at Charleston Fashion Week recommended Sullivan to FACTORwomen, after learning she was too young to model in New York.

High Fashion modeling includes walking down runways in fashion shows, participating in photoshoots, and working with high-end brand names like Armani, Kate Spade and MAC.

In 2014, Sullivan went to Charleston Fashion Week again and participated in the coed Rock the Runway competition. She made it to the final round, but was told later by the judges that she was too young to win the competition.

“It was sad that I didn’t win, but I knew I would just use this as a stepping stone in my career,” Sullivan said.

And she did. After she told FACTOR she was ready to go to New York, the company set up castings and Sullivan made connections. In August, Sullivan and her mother ran back and forth from photo shoots, fittings and rehearsals. She walked for Kate Spade, BCBG, Dolce and Gabana, Christian Siriano, and many more.

“I definitely think I will do New York Fashion week again. It was an awesome experience,” Sullivan said.

She would like to work Paris or Milan Fashion Week in spring 2016.