A lot of people have these terrifying dreams about being naked in public. You know the kind—the ones where you try to desperately cover yourself with your hands (and for women, that's extremely difficult considering we have two regions to cover) while you blush crimson. That dream came true for me.

You'd never guess it to look at me; I'm 5 feet, 3 inches tall, 115 pounds, medium-length brown hair, with a cute little face. In fact, if you knew me back before I came to college, you would never believe it if someone told you that I get naked in front of a class of students every week. I wouldn't have believed it of myself either, I never once dreamt of being a nude model.

It isn't as bad as you might think, actually. Most of the time I'm able to forget that I've become an exhibitionist. But then I get reminded ... like the time when I went to Madison Grill with a bunch of my friends. One of them, who was drunk at the time, leaned over and told me that he had seen pictures of me naked. I choked on my honey-dijon chicken with the weird green and yellow peppers (who actually eats those things anyway?), not quite prepared for such a revelation. I was further shocked to learn that my suitemate had also seen these pictures.

When I tell people about my job, the conversation usually follows this form:

*Where do you work?
Me: At the JMU art studio.

*Oh, are you like an assistant or something?
Me: Um, not really.

*Well, what do you do?
Me: Um, I'm a model.

*A model? Like, nude?
Me: Yeah.

*Oh. Isn't it weird?
Me: Not really. Except when I meet people outside of class that have drawn me. And I don't think I've seen another girl naked before, except in the changing room at the YMCA, so posing with another girl is kinda unusual.

*What do your parents think?
Me: They don't know ...

Then I usually get questions about the kinds of poses that I do. And no, people, I am NOT a Playboy model. I do not do any lewd poses, they're all natural, or at least artistic. A lot of times, I just sit or lay down. I like those days ... I get a paycheck for lounging around (in front of twenty pairs of eyes). Ever noticed how hard it is to fall asleep in the buff in front of a bunch of people all staring at you?

For those freshman girls desperate to meet a daring and exciting man, nude modeling is definitely for you. The students and professors don't care what you look like; fat or thin, pretty or ugly, you're just an object to them. That goes for the male models too. So maybe you'll meet some artsy fellow in the class that draws you especially well. Or maybe it will be one of the other models.

Most of the time I model with one other person, usually a girl. I actually modeled with one of my guy friends last year, which I think was rather bizarre for him — he has a girlfriend, yet here he is staring at the art studio's "top model" from across the room. I'm completely nude, leaning my arms on a propped-up leg; he's in the same position facing me, and between us is a class of 20 students all busily scrutinizing every detail of our bodies. I personally wouldn't know exactly what he was going through at that time, but I imagine it wasn't very fun.

One of the most popular questions I get is the "Wow, do you actually like modeling nude?" I don't know. It's definitely bizarre, but I do get paid well. And it's neat to see how people draw me. Sometimes the sketches don't even look like me, or they are out of proportion from the way I see myself. So while I will not be the next Playboy centerfold model, I will continue to expose myself in the name of art.