“I met a woman at school who had a son that was a great photographer, and I didn’t see myself as beautiful. I learned it from my firstĪs Alena grew and learned while living in the US, she also began modeling. The poor guy found me and asked me back, but I couldn’t. I slept in her tiny space with her.” You see, her boyfriend hadīecome jealous, and it was too much for Alena to handle after coming out of the Photographer, and one day when nobody was home, she came and helped me take my Then, while in America, Alena decided to leave herīoyfriend that she moved to the US for. It was very difficult for me to do.” Alena told us. “I left my daughter with my ex-husband’s parents. Alena has not seen her daughter in six years, and it’s a Unfortunately, while this move was the right choiceįor Alena to escape the life she was trapped in in Belarus, it separated herįrom her daughter. Model: Alena Simonova / Photographer: Deja Jordan / Hair and Makeup: Katarina Van Derham He wanted me to come to him, and I was surprised when I got my visa I found an Armenia guy who lived inĪmerica, so I came out here for him. I chose America because I am a family-oriented “I decided to come to America,” she said, “I felt like It wasn’t a good environment for her to escape back to. She couldn’t go back with her parents because her father was an alcoholic, and he was living in a very small home with her mother despite the two of them being divorced. I lost my respect for him.” Alena knew she had to get away. “Money changed him,” Alena told us, “He wasn’t coming home at night and would be drunk. But over the ten years they’d been married, he gained power at his job and gained a lot of money in the process. She married her husband when they had nothing.

But today, we sat with her to discuss her journey and how coming to America saved her.Īlena’s story began when she left her abusive husband in Belarus. If she had stayed in Belarus, her story might have already ended. She has faced many challenges to live the life she wanted to live in the United States, a life many of us here take for granted. If I had Stayed in Belarus, I Would Have DiedĪlena Simonova’s story is one of inspiration and perseverance.

Teen model alena