MANILA, Philippines – Fresh from the plane, four days fresh in fact, Daniel and his sister Vanessa are still getting their bearings around the city. They find the Philippines very warm and friendly. Daniel has been booked for a couple of shoots based on his portfolio alone. A young new model in the big city, a new career is about to begin.

Lucky for Daniel, his older sister Vanessa is traveling around the world to model as well and for a time, they’ve been traveling together which has made things easier for both (it’s good to have someone to trust completely). It’s also the best arrangement for their family, who miss them and worry about them.

So it’s June and barring swine flu and torrential rains, school should be starting already unless we’ve got more unforeseen events coming up to delay classes yet again, I ask the experienced model stuff about school. Vanessa laughs and smiles, “He was a good student!”

Daniel, from Brazil’s capital Brasilia, finished high school at 16 but opted to travel around the world instead of finishing his education to help out the family, just like his sister did, and has since modeled for print, commercials and ramp in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and a whole bunch of other countries.

So your sister says you were a good student. What subjects were you good at?

I was good at mathematics and physics.

What! You were a nerd?

No … not a nerd … (laughs) I don’t like reading …

Ah … not a nerd … but a geek?

Maybe … maybe … (laughs)

In school, there are always groups like the athletes or the cool kids or the nerds. Which group were you in school?

In the beginning I was more in the football group, then when I started studying harder I became more with the mathematics group (but not a geek!)

What do you miss most about school?

I don’t miss it a lot (laughs). But I do miss the routine.

I ask him if he has ever cheated in an exam and he smiles and says, “Never,” but his sister immediately says that he would let his friends copy off his paper during tests.

“He’s a geek but I’m proud of him,” she says. “He’s a genius!”

Daniel shakes his head: “She’s my sister, her opinion doesn’t count.”

So not just a world-class model but a math whiz too, huh? If more geeks looked like him, more girls would’ve opted to cheat than to study.

But both Vanessa and Daniel wish they had the opportunity to finish school.

We talk a bit about life in Brazil and how hard it is to finish with a good education and even those who do graduate still have a hard time landing a good job. Modeling becomes an option for most (ergo the sudden rush of Brazilian models all over the world), but the siblings Matsunaga are doing their best to make sure that their youngest brother, who is now 16, stays home and finishes college.

“Education first,” they chime, who now know better and have taken the sacrifice.