To be completely honest, I never thought I could become a model growing up. I actually wanted to be an entertainment journalist.

Growing up in the greater Toronto area, I was a happy kid. I was my mother's first child, surrounded by admiring godparents and cousins.

Growing up, I didn't have a lot of real friends, and the people I was friends with, I've grown apart from - they were frenemies more than anything.

When I got older, it got harder because when kids get older, they get meaner, so I went through a lot of bullying and people calling me, like, 'zebra' or 'cow,' so it was really hard growing up.

I make a fabulous tofurkey for Thanksgiving. My Mexican-Italian family can't tell the difference.

I was born technically in D.C., and then my family moved to the Columbia area when I was in elementary school. It was right on the line between Clarksville and Columbia in Howard County. I remember it being just like a peaceful, safe atmosphere. I always felt connected to the woods and that whole suburban feel.

The public library my parents took me to in Fort Worth had the children's section next to the SF/F section, so I was reading adult SF/F at a very young age.

I'd rather be the protector than the protected. I'm naturally the protector - being a mother and having a famous family. You have to navigate when it's right to protect.