So, I'm no stranger to odd jobs. I've cleaned up shit at a beach club, sat at dormitory desk until 4 am, even called alumni from my college to seek out donations for the school. Ultimately, in my young, broke, college student life, I've done what I had to do to make some extra cash, and obscurity was never a deterring factor. So to many of my friends, it was no surprise when I came into my most recent obscure job, nude modeling.

I get a lot of weird questions about this position. Most of the questions stem from a sort of shock that I am a man, and do this job. Though there are some minor awkward biological concerns that men have to deal with when posing nude in front of an art class (wink wink), it really isn't any different than women being nude in front of an art class.

Originally, I had heard of this opportunity from a friend who had worked it before, and she had a very positive reaction to the experience. So when I came to absolutely despise my job this past fall, the opportunity became something I was really starting to take seriously. I mean hey, I'm pretty adventurous and self confident, and I like easy money, so what did I have to lose?

The first day I was super nervous. Something about the whole situation didn't seem real until I actually showed up to the art classroom that day. Only a small amount of people had ever seen me completely naked prior, and now a classroom of about 20 people (some of which I knew) were about to see everything I had going on. Shit, I felt like I was about to ride a roller coaster.

The art professor kindly asked me to undress behind a folding screen, put on a robe, and walk to the platform in the middle of the class which was lit up just for me. I felt like a science experiment. I did as instructed, and disrobed on the platform. Honestly, any care or concern I had coming into the experience left my body with the robe. Sure I was naked in front of a bunch of people, and that was strange and unusual, but it was completely normal in that environment. I mean shit, that's what I was there for. There wasn't anything to worry about. I was just that dude they were supposed to draw for the class they were in.

During the first few classes especially, the adrenaline that came with the new experience made it one of the coolest and most interesting things I've ever decided to do. However, once the novelty of being naked wore off, I started to realize how difficult it really can be to stand or sit in a slightly uncomfortable position for 20 minutes at a time. Despite this challenge, I still say that modeling for figure drawing has been my favorite obscure job that I have ever had.

Now that I have gotten completely used to the job, it surprises me a little bit when people ask me how I could ever be naked like that in front of a bunch of people. Honestly, that's the easy part. I understand how many people would feel self conscious in my position, but this experience has taught me that the human body is something that should be celebrated no matter what it looks like. It is not something that should always be sexualized or judged. Once we can get over the mental hump of prefabricated concerns, being naked in a setting like that can feel very liberating.

Of course this job isn't for everybody, but I hope me sharing my experience has shed some light on how we as a society could be viewing the human body. If anyone ever has anymore questions about my experience, please feel free to ask. Thanks for reading!