Jessenia Vice

My name is Jessenia Vice. I got the name Vice when I was teased in HS for having lost a lot of weight. I was at one point nearly 200lbs and during my Freshman year I decided to lose weight. It took me having to eat right and becoming more active, I went from a size 16 to a size 9 that year. I kept up the change of habit but, I became obsessed with losing weight and being small. Ashamed of my noticeable curves, I developed anorexia, still feeling I was too curvy at a size 0. The girls teased me and started to call me "Vice" because by definition its an unhealthy addiction or habit. Well I later developed bulimia and it was a difficult turning point as it lead to me damaging my vocal cords. It affected my singing but it was treated early enough that I was able to recover. My singing voice isn't the same but, I still sing ::smiles:: It wasn't until I was in college that I learned more about the human body and health -wellness. I realized there were other ways to control body image. In my junior year I was approached by modeling talent scouts, something I never imagined I'd do. In 2010 I appeared on the Tyra Banks Talk Show in NYC along side Kim Kardashian and it was there that they both crowned me "Queen of the Kim Look Alike." I still cringe when I think about that day, but that was how I was introduced into the entertainment industry. When I was asked to create a modeling alias, my best friend gave me the idea of using that horrible nickname "vice" to showcase how I could take something negative in my life and make it into a positive. Since then I traveled the world, shooting covers for major magazines, I've been the lead in major music videos, I even hosted my own radio show in NYC and began to host TV shows on establish networks. Then a  bump in the road. I fell in love with the man i thought was my prince charming. He turned out to be the complete opposite once we moved in together planning for a future together. It was the scariest living nightmare I endured. I was a victim of constant abuse and no one knew. I was broken, I was scared and most of all I was lost. Through the help of one friend, my family who where living overseas found out what I had been going through. My family got involved, and although I was no longer living with him. Somehow I felt empty without him, it was as if my mind was so well conditioned that I went behind everyones backs and decided to see him. That night would have been my last night alive had there not been police officers patrolling the streets . I was driving my car, he was in the passenger seat, suddenly he began to choke me. I swerved and thats what caught the police's attention, they thought it was  a drunk driver, then they witnessed the driver jump out of the moving car. That someone was me.  My will to live was stronger than my submissive, brain washed mind. All I remember was getting up and running as far away from the direction the car was going that I felt no pain. The police went to see on the car and called in search for me. As I kept running all I couldn't think of was, "your not going to die today." Once a police officer found me, I fell to the floor crying tears of mixed emotions. I was safe and I knew from that point on I received the professional help from law enforcement and counseling as well as the love and support of my family. I work at the Psych ER, I been working there for 10years and now I get to help people who suffer the same I did and share my story, its a great feeling to be able to help these people with my story. I had decided to make a youtube video, something that took me serious thinking, to publicly share my story and I do no regret it. I read the comments women and men leave me telling me that my video changed their lives and it been since then that I set out a goal to someday start my own adVICE tour with Jessenia where I can go city to city to share my story and help others. Until then, I will continue to use my influence and my platform to help women, weather with health and beauty tips I've learned from being in this industry, to love and advice from my personal lessons I've learned and have overcome. Blogging to me is a healing process, as well as a growing process. My goal in life is to help bring smiles on the faces of people and I especially want to help other women never fall victimized by the pressures of society or abuse from others.  This is just the surface of what defines the woman I am today. I hope you enjoy my posts and I especially hope you get to learn from them.