STAR DREAM GIRL: Joanna Camille Litton

Eighteen-year-old Joanna Camille Litton took up Multimedia Arts for the plain reason that she finds pleasure in taking pictures. She loves photography but with her striking appearance and lithe frame, it looks like the camera loves her more. In fact, when she was only 12 years old and mindlessly walking along a village street one afternoon, a modeling agent spotted her. "I declined because I felt I was too young to get into this kind of business," muses Joanna, who proudly adds that her course at the De La Salle College of St. Benilde offers the most up-to-date equipment in photography.

When she puts her camera down, she uncaps her pen and starts drafting a poem to express her most profound emotions. Also, she spends her leisure time either with a good book by Albert Camus or with her iPod, one of the things she says she can’t live without. "I have a wide taste in music ranging from Frank Sinatra to Nirvana," says Joanna, who is of Spanish, American and Irish descent.

"I’d also like to travel around the world and learn about life in certain parts of the globe," she says. Joanna, the youngest daughter of businessman Gabriel and Joanne (née Alberto) Litton, shares she loves downtown San Francisco because it’s a melting pot of cultures. Singapore is also on her list of fave destinations because "it’s beautiful and clean. I’m very impressed with their improvements over the years."

Statuesque at 5’5", Joanna is usually clad in beach pants, a clean top and flip-flops – a get-up that speaks for her laidback and confident personality. "I believe in always being critical-minded and consistently attaining new knowledge. But most of all, I believe in always believing in yourself," she adds.

Now that she’s taking modeling as an alternative profession, Joanna tries to be as professional as possible by being always on time. She singles out her cousin Cesca Litton as a model she looks up to. In an industry where you’re only as good as your last appearance, Joanna makes sure she takes care of her face by washing it with a soap-free solution and avoiding oily and fatty food.

"The best compliment I’ve received so far is that I don’t have to try to look good to be beautiful." Surely, this aspiring diplomat is effortlessly dazzling and is worth your second look.

To Joanna, a STAR Dream Girl is "someone who is beautiful in all aspects of her being." – Jerni May Camposano