. .AND FINALLY,DAIVA!
Clothes by Reebok: French terry red skirt,
100% cotton, $28; poly-lycra black tank le-
otard, $25; flop socks, $8; freestyle high tops,
$50.
Clothes by Calvin Klein: off the shoulder
sweater, lambswool angora, $84; black five
pocket jeans, $44.
Clothes by Benetton: cropped multi-colored
sweater with front zipper, 100% wool, $78;
green knit leggings, 100% wool, $39; socks
by Hot Sox, $8. Athletic shoes by Spalding:
Cathy Rigby high tops. $43.
k
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Russian translator, fashion model, athlete, am-
bassador. She sounds like a character out of a
Robert Ludlum thriller. Instead, she is Daiva Che-
sonis, a senior at University of Maryland.
One hundred percent Lithuanian, Daiva spent
her early childhood struggling to learn English.
Sesame Street helped, but she entered kindergarten
barely knowing the language. Today she speaks
English, Lithuanian, Russian and German fluently.
Last year she began studying Spanish and French.
Using her language skills 13 to 20 hours a week
at the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville,
Maryland, Daiva translates Russian, German,
Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian books into Eng-
lish. These books are then catalogued for the Li-
brary of Congress.
Translating helps pay the monthly bills, but Daiva
supplements her income by working as a profes-
sional model. She began modeling two years ago
after entering a snapshot in the "Look of the Year
Model Search," sponsored by the John Casablancas
Modeling Agency. Although she didn't win the
contest, she was contacted by a representative of
the agency's Maryland branch. Her entry photo-
Fall 1987
graph showed modeling potential and she was to
be "checked out." After working at Casablancas
for six months, the 5-foot-7-inch petite model signed
with Select Model Management, a Georgetown
agency that caters to Washington, D.C., New York
and Philadelphia.
To help her stay thin, and keep her legs in shape
for modeling and sports, Daiva runs two to three
miles each day, on top of soccer practice and games
with the Maryland Women's Soccer Club. She also
makes time for the Baltimore Lithuanian Athletic
Club, a group which she represented a few years
ago in the World Lithuanian Sports Olympiad.
After graduation in December, Daiva doesn't plan
to simplify her lifestyle. Although she is still waiting
for her big break in modeling and would like to
model overseas, she won't put her education on
hold. She plans to leave Maryland to pursue a mas-
ter's degree and doctorate in Russian Area Studies,
and would like to work for the Foreign Service,
the CIA, the Department of Defense or the State
Department. But her main goal, she will tell you
with a smile, is to become the United States am-
bassador to the Soviet Union.
Sweater by Mass Transit: black cropped
sweater with shoulder pads, 100% cotton,
$42. Jeans by Guess: blue five pocket
jeans, $52.
Daiva's Fall
Fashions
Panache 11