Viral photo of South Sudanese student in the U.S. lands her major modelling deal

A 19-year-old South Sudanese student in the United States has signed a major modelling contract after her photo at a homecoming event went viral.

Anok Yai who is a sophomore at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire was dragged by a friend to Howard University’s homecoming celebrations in Washington, D.C. where a photographer snapped a photo of her.

This photo was posted by the photographer on his Instagram account and Anok Yai instantly became a hotcake with an overflow of comments, growth in followers and several calls from modelling agencies.

Saw her right at the end of Yardfest. Stunning anokyai #huhc #huhomecoming #theyard #fro #curlyhair #darkskin #sudanese

A post shared by TheSUNK|The Shit U Need 2 Know (thesunk) on Oct 21, 2017 at 2:56pm PDT

She signed with Next Models on Tuesday after they flew her to New York for several interviews.

From instagram #sensation to the world of global top modeling, nextmodels is pleased to announce that we now represent anokyai globally! #anokyai #nextmodels #global. ? of pic on the left is thesunk

A post shared by Kyle Hagler (@kylehagler) on Oct 31, 2017 at 2:32pm PDT

The biochemistry student was born in Egypt but of South Sudanese origin. Her family moved to the United States when she was only 2 years old.

She told the media in the United States that she thought the viral photograph was “average”, and modelling was a dream she did not think she will achieve right away.

Anok Yai said she will pursue modelling part-time while she completes her degree.

S I G N E D ? — anok_yai has signed with Next Management worldwide. Please join us in welcoming Anok! pic.twitter.com/razxjEASy5

— Next Models (NextModels) October 31, 2017

Photo Credit: @TheSunk/ Instagram