In the case of Professional Models Association of the Philippines (PMAP) President; Rissa Samson, I'd have to guess He must've been high. The Creator didn't pull any stops: (at 23, she's a model, president, wife, mother. ballerina, writer, and television personality), making her an Ober person of sorts. She's Audrey Hepburn in an Issey Miyake superhero costume and Prada boots. Aside from her constant media exposure, Rissa spent her last birthday with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, was consistently on the dean's list, graduated with a degree in Management and has raised a five-year-old son. To add to that, she has contributed to major newspapers, and has just recently tried her hand at local show business. From what I've learned, the only thing that seems uncomplicated to her is cooking.
No stranger to the camera, Rissa started modeling at 12, but she began seeing it as a career only about two years ago. Before her formal "debut," she had more important priorities in mind: All throughout her studies, she kept herself on the honor roll at the Ateneo. "As a nerdy student, my schoolwork always came first. I modeled only during my free time so 1 could focus on my studies." Rissa got her first taste of modeling as an image model for Sari-Sari's Dalagita clothing line, but it was the Anonymous posters that acted as the major springboard her booming career. After meeting top fashion director Ariel Lozada an Inno Sotto show, he put her in Lulu's show at the Enterprise center. Since then she has been an image model for Kitchen, Benetton ar Bench FIX, was featured in Patrick Rosas' book IMAGES and h constantly been on society's lists of the most stylish and best dressed. Her exotic looks have gotten her gigs in Paris, New York, Japan and over Asia. With all the perks she's received, the icing on her cake wou still have to be the time she gets to spend with son Enzo and husband Marzo Samson, whom she says "fell in love with me when I was wearing my brother's baggy jeans and Doc Martens." Such is the life of a swan.
Certainly, a Prada-clad superhero wouldn't be complete without a remarkable personality. Although her heart pumps the loudest during vampire hours, at sunrise a Randy Ortiz suit replaces the leotard. A bookworm and a writer, she was first published at age six when she did an interview with prima ballerina Lisa Macuja for The Philippine STAR, and later as a teen columnist for Philippine Daily Inquirer. As president of PMAP, Rissa continually supports and raises money for the children of the Leveriza and carols with them yearly. She and the other PMAP models arranged a project at Tahanan Sta. Luisa, where they spent time with sexually exploited children and built houses with their very own hands for Habitat for Humanity. Her favorite body part is the mind, no less, and she calls herself a cowboy despite citing the little black dress as her preferred article of clothing. Like any human being, she sings in her car while driving (be it Annie Lennox, Madonna, F4 or Metallica), and likes to eat (her haunts are mostly restaurants, save for the gym and Timezone for Enzo).
Just recently, Rissa guested in Kailangan Kita with Aga Muhlach, appeared on a GMA 7 telenovela, and is presently shooting Keka with Quark Henares. Her plans of taking post-graduate studies abroad which were botched by the 9/11 attack and the SARS scare are yet to be set afoot. "Models have a life span of only eight to 10 years, so I have to prepare myself for a second career. Models should realize you can't depend on modeling forever."
So as the interview ends, 1 conclude to myself that God must have been high. After all, how often does he decide to make molds for people such as this? A gliding paradox with a heart of gold and an actual intellect, swathed in a mix of present and past beauty that has already made her a modern classic. To call her an overachiever would be making a huge understatement. In centuries past, our Maker has given us people whose success and recognition are unparalleled -for example, the disheveled Renaissance Men in their heavy cloaks. The difference between then and now is that with people like Rissa Samson, success and recognition never looked so good.