Katelyn Chai is a subtly charming yet fiercely unconquerable young woman, who takes tremendous pride in defying any sort of limitations placed on her. Discretion has often been described as the better half of valour but it takes tremendous levels of bravery; to create a formidable path in two industries that are on the surface, strikingly different. As a medical student at the University of The West Indies, Katelyn understands the pressures of a demanding schedule, yet still, she finds time to pursue her artistic passion as a commercial model.
She passionately recalls the origins “I grew up seeing my Aunt work tirelessly as a nurse and I always admired her passion. She saw something in me and would playfully push this notion that when I grew up, I would be a Doctor. When I was old enough to decide whether I wanted to be or not, I began to think more introspectively question myself. Was doing it because everyone wanted me to do it or because I wanted to do it? I went and volunteered in the hospital to see how I would rate the experience and from the first day I was able to help people in such a meaningful way, I knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. “
As evidenced by her opening remarks, Katelyn Elizabeth Chai balances incisive introspective thinking while typifying Jamaican beauty with her faultless exoticism. Jamaican- Asian representation in the fashion industry has been lacking significantly and Katelyn’s presence in the space will fill that void. One glance at Katelyn Chai and it’s easy to see why she was able to ink her first deal as a commercial model with Hi Esteem Agency in Miami and she has already been featured on established media platforms such as ‘The Tribune’ in The Bahamas.
She isn’t naïve about the unique power that having such a dynamic career path can bring and she openly asserts that: “With balancing fashion and medicine, I have to constantly check myself to ensure that I don’t become conceited. I do feel very confident but I have to stay grounded and remember who I am, Medicine helps to keep me humble because it’s a profession that is based on service to people. Without these people, I would have no job and everything I do is for them.”
Chai’s decision to immerse herself into the intense but immensely gratifying world of medicine, may come as a surprise to some but if you look at the trajectory of her academic pursuits; it really isn’t a far-fetched aspiration. She has always had a profound love for science and her time at Campion College, was characterized by the quest to fulfill the insatiable appetite she has for scientific knowledge. “Everything other than the sciences, were the first subjects I dropped as soon as I could “
Professional objectification is an undesirable social dynamic that many Caribbean woman have to face. Professional objectification, is grounded in the misguided notion that a woman should stick to one career path once and be defined by that only. The growing popularity of Katelyn Chai’s modelling presence in Jamaica, is emblematic of the fact that Caribbean women no longer need to subject themselves to these archaic notions.
“The fact that I can do a photoshoot and embellish my alluring side, doesn’t make me any less capable of treating a patient as a Doctor. I think the limited perceptions of Doctors are changing but it’s not where it needs to be yet.
As Katelyn Chai continues to embark on this journey as a full-time Medical Student and model, it would remiss of us not to acknowledge; how her fearlessness and dynamism are removing the veils of professional objectification for women in Jamaica.
