The Marines promise that a person can be all that they can be. This is true in many instances, and then some. Training to be tough and rugged does not deter some marines from staying in touch with their more worldly and sensitive side. For one marine, the worldly side of life could be her most difficult. She has been labeled as the worlds most popular marine because she is now in the modeling industry. As stringent as the Marine Corps was, Shannon found that modeling could be just as demanding, and sometimes, more so.
Shannon was named the world’s best looking marine because she posed as a marine in a modeling portrait. This was easy for her since she had previously been a marine. This gave her modeling job more authenticity. She gave the pose the aura it needed to appear realistic, and believable. Shannon did point out that being a model was more difficult in some ways than being a marine.
As a model, she had very little voice in many situations that involved her. In the marines, she could at least get her point across. Many times as a model, Shannon was told no, and that was the bottom line. In the marines, she at least had an option of presenting her side of things with a valid argument.
Very few people know what they want to do once they leave the military, but Shannon had a plan for her life that is working well for her. Many men and women have a desire to be a model, but everyone does not get that opportunity. Shannon had become accustomed to living life as a marine, and it took a reality check for her to be able to transition successfully from the marines to a career in modeling. Civilian life was not as easy to get back into as she imagined it would be. Of course, there will be other marines who will challenge the statement that Shannon is the world’s best looking marine. Although they may not take offense to the statement, many men are willing to show off what they have.
One of the most difficult things for Shannon as a model was learning to control her temper. As a marine, she could scream and yell at her buddies, and afterwards, everything would be alright. As a civilian, and a model, there were severe consequences for this type of action. As a matter of fact, modeling jobs could be lost for this reason. You must have the ability to adapt to the different situations that come up in civilian life, and you must handle them well. This was not necessary to do as a marine because there were superiors above you that managed situations, and gave the orders. A marine just had to follow orders, quietly.
Shannon has managed to have a successful modeling career. She remembers that the basics of her marine training can be helpful in civilian life especially tolerance. Some of the things that she does as a model are even more scary than the many images of war, bullets, and marching through the desert as a marine. All in all, Shannon has proven that you can be all that you can be as a marine, and as a civilian doing what you enjoy.
