Portrait of a porn star

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“Hey, are you Katie?” she asked, walking up and gathering her hair on one side of her neck. She was wearing the standard garb of many Duke women: a cotton, blue V-neck and lululemon yoga pants with a North Face jacket tucked underneath her arm. In shuffling past her on the plaza or sitting next to her on a bus, one would never suspect that Lauren was, in fact, involved in the adult film industry.

In talking to her during the meal to come, I hardly believed it myself. She talked of her dismissal of sororities—“it’s a toxic environment”—political beliefs—“Republican, but I identify more as a libertarian”—and her studies—“proud women’s studies and sociology double-major.”

Lauren said she travels to Los Angeles during breaks to shoot adult films. Her travel is paid for by her agent at Matrix Models. Lauren does not disclose how much she is paid per shoot, but during the course of our month-long correspondence she does not hesitate to show off to me her recently-purchased iPad mini and array of designer handbags.

Lauren's parents still do not know of her involvement in the porn industry. During winter break, she told her parents she had an additional final exam at Duke so she could fly to Los Angeles for a week of filming before flying home.

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