WITH LUCY MCDERMOTT
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SFR: How did you end up entering the Mudd Jeans teen activist essay contest?
LM:
A friend of the family told me about it. They had done a bunch of casting calls in different cities but I didn't go to a casting, so I just wrote a half-page essay on something that I was passionate about, which is what they wanted.
Give us the Cliff's Notes.
It just talked about the environment and the little things you can do to make a difference. I've grown up in a really environmentally conscious household and it's something that's always on my mind, so it was amazing when they told me I was the only one out of a couple thousand girls that wrote about the environment. That's kind of horrendous in some ways.
Were you surprised to be chosen as a finalist?
Absolutely. To tell you the truth, I didn't really know much about the contest when I entered it. I just did it for fun and wasn't really expecting anything, and then they called me back a couple of days later and told me I was a finalist and that I was going to New York.
What happened in New York?
They flew me out there and picked me up in some fancy car and drove me to my hotel where I met the other girls. The next day they took us to a fitting at the Mudd showroom, and the day after that we had an eight-hour photo shoot. It was really long and just a whole lot of smiling.
Why did you decide to donate your $5,000 prize to Forest Guardians and the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance?
I figured since I wrote about the environment, that would be a good thing to donate to, and it's definitely something that needs the money. I was really excited when they told us we had $5,000 to donate to a charity of our choice, so I researched a lot of different organizations. My family goes to the Forest Guardians' annual dinner every year, and it's just a really good organization. They seem to really be making a difference in preserving our natural resources. I found out about the Wilderness Alliance when I was researching the Valle Vidal. [Protecting the Valle Vidal] is something that I really want to be a part of, and they're making some big strides on that and seemed very sincere, so I think that was a good decision.
What would you have done with the $5,000 if you hadn't donated it?
Well…I probably would have put it toward college or helped out my family. But you know what? I think I feel better about donating it. I feel really good about that.
I understand you also went to Alaska in July for National Outdoor Leadership School. What was that like?
It was awesome. But it was also the ass-whipping of a lifetime.
So it's basically an environmentalist boot camp?
Mentally, it's boot camp. We hiked 130 miles in 28 days, and my pack probably weighed between 55 and 65 pounds during the trip. I wasn't ready for it, but you just have to push yourself-and I got through it. I don't know if I'll ever top it.
What else did you do, aside from a lot of hiking?
It's a school, so we had classes and we got grades. We learned first aid, wilderness skills, camping, stuff like that. We also learned about Alaska and the tundra and the animals. We learned all about caribou and grizzly bears.
If nothing else, you have a lot of material for your "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" essay.
True. When anybody asks what I did this summer, I have some good stories.
Is it going to be a little surreal seeing yourself in magazine ads?
The ad actually came out in the August issue of Seventeen. I went to the airport in Alaska with my friend from NOLS, and he picked it up and flipped through it. About five pages in, there I was, full-page. It was really unbelievable. And then another friend went to the mall the other day and there I was on a big poster at Shoes On A Shoestring.
Has this experience clarified anything for you in terms of your career plans?
I will never become a model, that's what I've gotten out of it. [laughs]
You don't like eight-hour photo shoots?
I've had my minor five minutes-or five seconds-of fame. It's been cool, but I don't think that's a career path I'd like to go down. I'd like to make a difference doing something substantial, and flaunting looks isn't something I find to be substantial.
So…what do you want to be when you "grow up," then?
Ever since I was little I wanted to be a veterinarian. I'd want to be somewhere in the medicine or biology field, but it would have to be something outdoors. I can't be cooped up.
According to the ad campaign, "Mudd Girls Move the World." If you had the power to remedy any of the world's problems, what would you choose and why?
I guess first I would make people more environmentally conscious about the problems with global warming and other issues we need to address before it's too late. And then…I would bring more peace to the world. That sounds really beauty-queenish, but these days I think it's very true.
You'll be 18 by the time the 2008 presidential election comes around; any early favorites?
Um…not yet. I'm still looking at them, but I'll definitely be involved.
