Crop tops, high-waisted jeans, Converse, Toms and leggings comprise some of the usual fashion at Homestead. The trends we see in magazines and social media with models and celebrities wearing these clothes daily is considered normal to us. We even aspire to be like these rock stars of society. But do people ever think how others who come from different countries might view our choice in clothing?

Eda Guenes, senior exchanged student from Germany, made a comment about how unusual it is for her to see unique clothing on teenage girls. She explained that in Germany everybody wore the same things. She would have never thought to express herself using some of the clothing that the Homestead students do. “In Germany, only old ladies wore Birkenstocks. Here, everybody wears them.”

In Paraguay, the fashion for Daniela Garlisi, senior, wasn’t such a big focus. Everybody wore uniforms to school and had some play clothes and some summer clothes, she explained.

Not only our clothes, but also the hair is considered radical, commented Emily Xu, senior, who has joined Homestead from China. In China, if they had colored their hair and then went to school with it anything but their natural color, they would be sent home and forced to change back its color. But at Homestead, many people dye their hair, even clubs do it as team bonding.

Even though the fashion is different, these students leave with a fondness of America and its people, hopefully despite our fashion sense.