18 | BALANCE OF EXCELLENCE
“D
uring quarantine. I learned a lot about the fast fashion industry,” Addie Gaudet said. “And that’s what I want to do with my major and my life.”
While in quarantine Gaudet discovered her love for fashion. According to The Ladders more than 70% of people in quarantine watched tv shows and movies. She’s transitioned to thrifting and making her own clothes. Although Gaudet is new to thrifting and the fashion industry she’s already trying and making new apparel. “I’m not very good at making my own clothes, but I try my best. I’ve made a few things that I really like. I’ve made a few bags and stuff like that,” Gaudet said. Gaudet has upcoming apparel and models she’s working on currently. With prom on the way many seniors rent or buy dresses and tuxes, but Gaudet has a different approach. She will be making and thrifting her very own prom dress. “I finished the final product of the skirt for my dress,” Gaudet said. “But basically, I just started with some cheap fabric and made my model and made the pattern. It’s just a lot of repetition, practice and trying to get it perfect.”
ADDIE GAUDET
In a span 5 years almost 1.9 million are employed into the fast fashion industry. The fashion industry is loaded with designers Gaudet seeks to keep her fashion hobby going while attending Virginia Tech next school year. “I’m planning on having an environmental resource management major with hopefully either a double major or minor in fashion design,” Gaudet said.
HOBBIES A
self-taught enterprising senior with global experience, passion, and a budding business: meet Neo Becerra-Ramirez, “DJ Neo,” who transferred to HIES in his freshman year.
Ramirez began playing the piano when he was four years old. His love for music took on another form when he was introduced to a deejaying app on an iPad, “I started there and I’ve grown myself and my business for many years.” Because his parents were originally reluctant to invest in expensive sound equipment, he gradually supported himself by building up digital apparatus through income from gigs and now has carved out a place for himself on the Atlanta deejay scene. Whether it’s a Bat Mitzvah, private party, or even a wedding, every crowd has its own taste in music. “The thing about deejaying is analyzing the crowd,” Ramirez said. “So whatever song you play, if the crowd doesn’t like it, then you know...that type of genre or that type of song, they don’t like.” One of his greatest struggles has been COVID-19. Though the pandemic has brought Ramirez’s fledgling business to a grinding halt, he turned to social media as an outlet to showcase his musical talent. “I saw other DJs doing live streams...so I started doing live streams and people liked it.” Ramirez continues to keep a positive attitude and is looking forward to attending Georgia State University in the fall. He will major in biology with aspirations of becoming a general surgeon in the future.
Neo Becerra-Ramirez
