Charlestown's Bethany Rosewarne owes a lot to her cat Luna.
You see, Luna helped her get discovered as a model.
Bethany's agent Stacey Hendrickson first noticed her in a photo with Luna on Instagram.
"Luna is a rescue cat, as well. By chance I found her and by chance my agent found me," Bethany, 18, said.
At 172 centimetres tall, the Whitebridge High Year 12 student was initially told she was too short to be a model.
But Stacey didn't think her height mattered. She was right. Bethany features in the latest edition of Vogue Australia.
Burberry creative director Riccardo Tisci chose Beth as a top new Australian face.
"I was flabbergasted. I just didn't realise that could be me," Bethany said.
She was in the middle of HSC trials when word came through of Vogue's interest.
"I came out of my second English paper. I turned my phone on to a text from mum, which was a direct message from my agent. I was so confused, I thought mum was playing a joke on me," she said.
Then her mum rang and said her agent had been "desperately trying to get a hold of you".
Vogue wanted her for a shoot the following day. Problem was, Bethany had a maths exam.
"I'm half crying out of excitement because I can't believe this is happening," she said.
"But I knew I had to do the exam because you can't call in sick. You still have to turn up if you're sick."
Bethany's agent Stacey Hendrickson, of AZALEA Models, said they weren't sure if she could make the shoot.
"But the Vogue staff were very accommodating. They put her call time in the afternoon, so she could do both," Stacey said.
Bethany did her three-hour maths exam at school in the morning, then she left for Sydney.
It wasn't easy to focus on the maths exam, but she found a way.
"I had to compartmentalise it. I allowed myself an hour to freak out the day before, then I went right back to study," she said.
After her exam, she allowed herself a further two hours to "get excited and actually process the fact that I was going to be in it".
Stacey said the Vogue photographs had attracted "a lot of international interest".
"I have about ten international modelling agencies that are asking about her availability," she said.
"It's such great timing for Bethany because she's about to finish school. She's planning on taking a gap year to see where modelling and travelling can take her."
Bethany is attracted to the creative side of modelling and "how people with different artistic mindsets can put together something that ends up being beautiful".
"You do get the opportunity to travel and see the world and work in many different places. That really is quite attractive to me," she said.
"I think it's the different people you get to meet and the different experiences that you get to have. You get a richer experience of life.
"Newcastle is beautiful and I adore it. I think I will miss it a lot, when and if I do go away. But it's the fact of being able to go and see other places and find parts of yourself in those places as well."
Mr Allen Key
This from Eunice of Belmont: "If and when the construction of the proposed new IKEA on the new Boolaroo site comes to fruition, will the new building arrive in one giant flat pack with a sheet of instructions and an allen key?"
Nice one, Eunice. By the way, we hear the member for IKEA, Mr Allen Key, has been asked if he is able to form a cabinet.
Bragging Rights
What's in a name, eh?
University of Newcastle's Vice-Chancellor Alex Zelinsky was this week "inducted as an honorary Bragg member".
Being a Bragg member is apparently "the highest category of membership awarded by The Royal Institution of Australia".
Peter Yates, chairman of the institution, said Australia was "truly fortunate to have so many remarkable scientists and scientific leaders, who are each making a significant contribution to the future of this country and beyond".
Not that he's bragging or anything.
