The chance at fame and fortune is the dream of many in the United States.
The opportunity to achieve this dream can present itself in many forms, with acting and modeling being two ways in which many Southern Californians pursue it.
Various publications offer students a chance to pursue their dreams of modeling. For one Cal State Long Beach junior, the opportunity to model came from Playboy magazine.
"I've wanted to be in Playboy all my life," Jodi Valdes said.
Valdes appeared in Playboy's recent newsstand publication "College Girls."
Separate from Playboy's regular monthly magazine, "College Girls" focuses specifically on coeds across the country.
"I went in for a general audition for Playboy," Valdes said. "They saw that I went to Long Beach State, so they asked for my transcripts and called me in."
Valdes had been modeling for the past three years, ever since she was discovered in South Florida while attending the University of Miami.
"I was on the beach in Miami when a photographer approached me and gave me his card," Valdes said. "So I called him and got my portfolio together."
Recently expanding into acting, she has appeared in HBO specials and will be appearing in Showtime's "Justin." She has also appeared in "Liquids," a video for Playboy.
However, the Stockton native said she had always wanted to be in Playboy and looks forward to doing more projects.
"I will be in Playboy's "Latin Girls" issue later this year, and they want me to be in the "Book of Lingerie," she said.
The speech communications major explained she was warned about what her new notoriety might cause.
"They [Playboy] said, 'You will get a lot of people looking and wondering if that is you,'" she said.
One of the possible ramifications of her newly found fame will be the way she is perceived in the classroom.
"One of my teachers saw it," she said. "It was the first day it came out and I was looking at it with a friend, and my teacher came up and asked why we were looking at Playboy. I told him I was in it and he asked where, so he saw and said, 'Wow, it's going to be kind of hard teaching you now,'" she said, laughing.
Valdes said she is not going to rely on just modeling and acting for her future. She plans on finishing her bachelor's and getting her master's degree.
"I want to teach either high school or college," Valdes said. "I eventually want to teach at a university, probably theater arts or speech."