ed something else to believe in.” And that something was crystals, resulting in their quickly growing crystal collection. “The amount of money I spend on crystals — don’t tell my mom,” Ogletree says as her best friend, who is accompanying her, laughs. “All the crystals are authentically sourced,” they tell me, and with each purchase she’s pressing complimentary crystals into hands. Another vendor, Christina Huger, runs the Min Collection. Originally, Huger started making T-shirts for herself because she found it hard to find pieces that fit her. From that, she transitioned to the jewelry her booth sells, saying she got to a point where she didn’t have the money to order T-shirts and went “let’s make jewelry.” Huger doesn’t have an online store, or even business cards. “My main focus is individuality and bringing something simple, minimalist, at an inexpensive price. I don’t mass produce anything,” she said. “Because I want people to feel that they have the only one, or I make only five of these and never make them again, because I don’t even remember what they look like.” One of Huger’s favorite pieces that she has made is a silicone bracelet. On one side, it says “HUMAN”. On the inside, it says “Change the world by being yourself ”. “I’m very big on being human,” Huger said. “Sometimes we tend to forget that we’re all human, the way we talk to each other, the way we treat each other.”
She enjoys doing meaningful and random events — which is what brought her to the Market. “I thought it was a good opportunity to bring my business to ODU students. When you’re a student, you don’t have the most money in the world. It’s an inexpensive way for self expression,” she said. “You may be the only person on campus with one of these bracelets.” Christine Harrell still seems to look upon the Market with a sense of awe towards the success of the unique event she founded and runs. “Having the first year, and having people just come, it’s awesome, because you see the potential and growth of it,” Harrell said. “Really, the Market was only supposed to be a side gig for me, and then it became like, ‘oh my god, people really love it.’ I’m just very thankful how the community is very welcoming to this.” But for Harrell, it always comes back down to community. “When I think of farmers markets I think of community,” Harrell said.“I think of family, I think of just having fun on a Saturday, where we’ll have buskers, sometimes we’ll have music. There’s not a college out here that has its own market.”
