Verns rising

A self-confessed provinciana, 5-ft.-9-in. Verna "Verns" Buckley will compete with over 40 mannequins from around the world for the much-coveted Supermodel of the World title. Will she be the first Filipina Supermodel of the World? The suspense ends on Dec. 6.

Beauty queen Melanie Marquez became the first runner-up and won the Miss Clairol special award at the Supermodel of the World Modeling Competition in l987. In 1990, Adele Go made it to the top 10. Two years later in 1992, Milagros Flores won the Best Smile Award. The following year, Pampanga beauty Lorena Pangan made it to the top 10. It was only last year when another Filipina, Cebuana Marjay Ramirez landed in the top 10 of the Supermodel of the World competition.

Could 2002 be the year for Philippine representative Verns Buckley? Verns will vie for the Supermodel of the World title on Dec. 6 in the Dominican Republic. If she makes it, she will get a $25,000-contract from the prestigious Ford Models Inc., the world’s oldest and most influential modeling agency.

This statuesque 18-year-old from Cebu is of British-French-Irish-Spanish-Filipino descent. This former swimmer and pre-med student was discovered by Dexter Alazas (one of Cebu’s top model agents) while she was walking home from school. Only 15 at that time, Verns has since modeled here and abroad under the wing of top modeling agency, CalCarrie’s. Having spent three years in the modeling industry, this Cebuana who shuttles between Manila-Hong Kong-Singapore has over a hundred runway shows under her belt. Her face has graced international fashion magazines such as ELLE and Harper’s Bazaar in Hong Kong. She has also done regional campaigns for Pantene, Panasonic (Philippines), Bossini (Hong Kong), Vidal Sasoon in Hong Kong, and catalogues for China.

Independent and well-rounded, Verns has an inclination for the arts. A budding poet, she is an admirer of romanticist Henry Longfellow whose A Psalm of Life is her personal favorite. Her poetry has exceptionally dark themes, driven by anger, hate, sorrow. She also paints in oil and watercolor and is an admirer of Picasso and Leonardo da Vinci. Her passion for the medium has yielded twisted and abstract pieces that are, like her poems, thematically dark. But she also has a playful side – she admits to being a computer freak who spends hours surfing the Net and checking out websites. She’s also a music lover who listens to a lot of R&B, hiphop and rock music.

But who is the real Verns? "Verns is just Verns. A person for others who loves life and tries to make the best of what she does," she says. "A young provincial girl who dared to be a model, gambled and tried her luck in Manila."

But there is a bigger role that comes to mind being in the industry of glitz and glamour. "My calling to modeling is to inspire and encourage people from the province to go beyond the stereotype mentality that a provinciana can’t make it big in the city," Verns explains. She cites fellow Cebuana’s Bingbing Pabular and Torina Bago who became household names in the field of local modeling. "Aim high, soar and fly. Why settle for something small when you can do something big?"

Yet Verns’ strong driving force to succeed cannot be attributed to guts alone; religion also plays a big role in it. "Almost everything I do is from God," she says. "I believe so much in Him. I feel that I am not alone and that there is always a Father who guides me."

As Verns prepares to represent our country in an international competition, she muses, "We have to uplift our spirits. The Filipino can make it!"

Big things come from small things and in her own little way, Verns is opening a door that she hopes will pave way for other young hopefuls. "If you want it, aim for it," she ends.

After all success begins with a dream.