Graduating from a Model Academy

It's very rare that I comment on the way a SL Model Agency or Academy is run. It's their own prerrogative how the Agencies manage and represent their SL Models or teach future SL Models.

One of these days, by mere chance, I actually came across a Graduation Diploma from a very recent SL Model Academy, that left me uncomfortable, I must say.

Here it is, I found it in a Flickr account and removed the name of the SL Model. For this exact same reason, I don't link the image to the Flickr account. I want to focus on the Diploma itself, not the SL Model that graduated.


It's highly conceited from this SL Model Academy to highly recommend ANY graduate to represent ANY Agency in SL. It's presumptuous and self-centered.

From what I've seen, every SL Model Academy has its own way of teaching and traning a SL Model. Every Agency is different from the next one.

How can a simple Model Academy highly recommend a graduated Model to represent ANY Agency in SL , or, for that matter, ANY designer?

It's highly irregular, I must say.

If necessary, a Model Academy can rate a graduate Model; it can state that she or he graduated with honours or with an outstanding ability. But to recommend a graduate to ANY other Model Agency in SL? That's absolutely condescending.

Meaning, how can a Model Academy state that this or that particular Model is recommended to work in another Agency, that may be run with different specifications?

SL Model Academies have their names out in SL. Some are already very well known and this particular Academy in NOT one of them.

To create a Group in SL called the Best of Second Life, only means that we need to pay L$100 and, there it is!! A Group that condescends other people's work, by 'highly recommending' their trainees to ANY SL Model Agency or Designer?

It's outraging!!

So, SL Models, watch out for this kind of attitude when you look for an Academy for you! Just by looking at this diploma, we all can tell that this Academy enhances the egotistic part of a SL Model, not necessarily meaning quality, but for sure showing an attitude of 'we are the best' - which may not be true.

As always, my advice is to run away from this kind of Academy or Agency. Their actions speak for themselves. I've had access to other SL Model Academies graduation diplomas, but I don't have the images. So, if you do have your diplomas and feel good about sharing them, do so. I'll remove the SL Graduate Model's name from it and show diplomas from other SL Model Academies here.

Then, you can see for yourselves and make you own opinion about this. I'm stunned!

PS - Let's think real for a second? Imagine, RL, a College Graduate in, let's say, Physics. Does the Graduation Diploma state that the Graduate in question is 'highly recommended' to work in any Laboratory in the world? No way!! The name of the College itself is recommendation enough! Its status among its peers!! That's what counts!

I read something in a SL profile a while ago that said something like this: to be in SL is like having lots of money in RL - brings out the real personality in you. Ain't this so right?