The beginning of the school year is, for me, a very chaotic and vexing time, and this year more so than ever. In a few months I will be going into my senior year of high school, and there is no way that I will let it slide by, I am determined to give my all, and start it off with a bang! For many of my peers and friends this is the time to shop for the newest name brand clothing and the latest in the line of classroom equipment so that they can be at the top of their game academically while still being able to look “cool”.
 
 Being a standard teenager, the same things race though my mind on a daily basis: “what is this years style going to be like?”, “can I afford this without dipping into my Prom savings?” and most importantly “would the girls think I look cute in this?”, but being fortunate enough to know about and live in the near vicinity of various fair trade stores in my town has allowed me to forego much of the usual angst of this pre-school mania. Shopping fair trade allows me to find edgy outfits and equipment that will set me apart from most high schoolers, clad in outfits direct from the nearest mall, while still being able to prepare myself academically for the top tier colleges that I am applying to and help me make the splash that I am looking for in my senior year.
 
Random strangers will stop me in the halls and ask where I got a specific article of clothing and practically beg them to tell me where they can find the store, friends eye my attire with look of cautious curiosity at first, asking if American Eagle opened a new line and when I respond with the eventual “no”, they inquire as to how they can get their hands on something similar.
 
The ability to stand out and stand up for something which shopping fair trade allows for, has given me the gift of being a leader in my own high school. Contrary to many modern concepts, you can support a world that is economically stable, long lasting and based on partnership while vying with the most outfit aware, best dressed students.
 
As a young adult, fair trade gives me a glimpse into a world that is vastly different than the one which I live in now, a world that I want to be part of and a world that I want to live in which is why I am starting off my senior year by becoming a conscious consumer and shopping fair trade!

-Cameron Conner