If you were looking for a job earlier this semester, you might have seen a listing on Handshake for a nude modeling position at the Colorado State art department. Many people would pass on that job in a heartbeat, but to CSU Student Amanda Kmetz, it was an opportunity for a unique experience, not to mention a cool story.

“I was applying for jobs on Handshake like everybody else, I was applying for…front desk, research assistant, checking people in and out of the gym, that kind of thing,” Kmetz said. “I saw the posting for the nude figure model job, and I was like ‘well that seems fun.’”

According to her, she mostly applied because she thought it would be an interesting fun fact to tell people, and never expected to actually get the job due to her lack of experience. “Crazy enough, I applied for multiple jobs on campus, and it was the one that responded the quickest,” she said. Just like that, her modeling career began.

The job pays $25 an hour, typically for three-hour sessions. Since the class focuses on how to draw the human form, models need to be swapped out frequently to cover a variety of body types, meaning the job hours are flexible. 

Before her first session, Kmetz had a meeting with the professor where she learned more details about what the position would entail. A week later, she arrived at her first day 15 minutes early, changed into her robe, and walked into the classroom.

A platform is situated in the middle of the room where Kmetz will pose, on that day, in a lying-down pose. Class begins with a short lecture, after which the students are split into two groups. Half the class draws her from one angle, and the other half from the opposite.

“The second half was a little agonizing,” she said. “It’s hard, it’s not the hardest job I’ve had, but it’s definitely not easy to sit still, hold a pose, for long chunks of time like that.” The last 20 minutes of a session are consistently the most annoying part, according to her.

Kmetz explained that modeling evokes a diverse spectrum of emotions. There’s the serenity of total focus, the frustration of wanting to move, the strangeness of being observed not for yourself but for your form, and of course, the anxiety of being completely naked on a raised platform in front of a dozen college students. 

Along with that anxiety, though, she also described a mutual vulnerability between the model and artist. Just as a model exposes themself, the artists must expose themselves as well when they put their work on display. In her experience, this lessened that uneasiness. “Seeing their art for the first time, it put it on equal footing for me, it made it less terrifying,” she said.

One feeling, however, stood out in particular.

“The experience has been surprisingly healing,” Kmetz said. “We often times like judge ourselves really harshly I think … and one thing that this experience has offered me on like, a personal level, is the ability to see myself through the lens of other people.”

People are often their own worst critics, especially in regards to physical appearance. However, when we see how others truly view us; how they would portray us as art, it allows us to see the beauty in ourselves. “There’s like a culture of asking you to like hate yourself,” Kmetz said. “We don’t have to subject ourselves to that.”

Overall, she described her experience as being very positive. While it’s true that other Handshake job listings might be a little more orthodox, she expressed that they probably wouldn’t be nearly as fun or interesting. “To get to be a part of this like, incredible creative process is honestly a gift and an honor, like I am very grateful that I have this job,” she said.