Inspiring Good Through Storytelling: My Experience as a T-Shirt Model

Article by: Karl Batungbacal / Photos by: Hannah Beltran and Paolo Pareno / Graphics by: Kathleen Yap

I look up to a lot of sports personalities because they bring a sense of swagger to everything that they do. Not only that, they also make their mark in pop culture by way of their quotes, sometimes on self-confidence. One of my favorite quotes is, “You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take.” by the great hockey player Wayne Gretzky. Taking that quote to heart, I modified it to give it a more personal flavor and now I refer to it as, “Shoot your shot”. Whenever I’m unsure of anything, I go back to this quote and all of my doubts go away.

I’d be lying if I said that I completely knew what I was getting into when I volunteered for this project. My entire mindset was just, “Go there, meet your co-interns, write about the shirts, and you’ll be fine.”

Well, that’s not quite how it turned out.

After much discussion with my co-interns and our supervisor, I agreed to model one of the WiM Love Foundation shirts. I felt nervous at the beginning of the shoot because I was one of four WIMterns representing a vision to have a world where everyone’s story is valued. The shirt I got had “Be Brave” printed on it, so I took it as a sign to take the leap and do the shoot.

Being a shirt model was a truly fun experience because it paved a way for me to be more comfortable with myself and it was also the perfect bonding moment with the other WIMterns. (Modeling with my fellow WIMterns also served to boost my confidence!)

Despite being a bit of a shy type, the shoot truly brought out the best in me… in all of us, actually. And I think the photos show it. I’ve always wanted to be an endorser, but it’s very rare for someone with my build to start endorsing products because I’m not the usual billboard-ready personality that’ll turn heads. Regardless, I took the leap and it turned out to be a great experience.

1st time to model and it was great to share it with my fellow WiMterns ? . . . . . ?:@paolopareno, @denisseerin & Hannah Beltran (Thanks to our mama supervisor @natividadangela for getting us ❤) . . . . Get your own WiM Love Shirt here ?: https://fundr.customthread.com/shops/wimlove . . . . . #wheninmanila #interns #adventure #canon #weekend #instagood #holiday #bestoftheday #tourism #instapassport #travelgram #model #internship #photography #create #travel #adventure #wonderlust #happy #emotions #raw #agameoftones #ig_masterpiece #ig_exquisite #ig_shotz #global_hotshotz #superhubs #photographysouls #theworldshotz #pixel_ig #photographyislife #photographysouls

A post shared by Karl Batungbacal (@blackmambito24) on Mar 21, 2018 at 4:25am PDT

The “Be Brave” tag on our shirts was the wake-up call, telling me that every single one of us has limitless potential and all we need to do is take the opportunities given to us and to shoot our shot.

Interested in getting your own shirt? Check them out here.