Larry Birkhead says Dannielynn may forge her own path over Anna Nicole's

Larry Birkhead has told how people want his daughter Dannielynn to "follow in mum Anna Nicole Smith's footsteps."

Larry, who is a photographer, was attending the Barnstable Brown Gala along with his daughter, 19, when the pair gave an update on Dannielynn's life.

"I'm majoring in forensic science," Dannielynn, 19, told People. "I might double major, possibly, in something regarding culinary, because I love baking. I don't know."

Larry, 53, told how proud he is of his daughter, whether or not she wants a career in the limelight. "I'm excited for her to just follow any path that she wants," he said. "A lot of people want her to follow in her mom's footsteps - and she's thought about that, and maybe she might switch back to that one day - but right now, she's kind of wanting to do her own thing with the forensics and the criminal studies. So I'm all about whatever she wants."

He added that after her first semester of college, she "got good grades," adding, "You know, it was a little bit of a struggle to get across the finish line, like these horse races, but she got the steam at the end, and she pushed it across. She did a great job. So I'm proud of her in every way."

Dannielynn's mother, Anna Nicole Smith, died of an accidental overdose in 2007 when Dannielynn was just five months old.

Dannielynn, who was sporting a new short haircut at the event, told People that she doesn't mind being compared to her late mother.

"(The comparisons) "always make me feel good, because I love my mom," she said. "She's super pretty, and I like being compared to her in the sense of like, 'Oh, I'm pretty too.' But I also like being known as my own person. Because it's always like, 'Anna Nicole Smith's daughter,' and never just Dannielynn. So I'm hoping my look right now will kind of help with that in a way."