1st Place, Human Interest Feature
2021-22, Division 4, News Writing
By Ella Rosewarne
The Communicator
Ann Arbor Community HS
“I’m a boy wearing girls clothes: You don’t really see that often,” Brendan Grover, Community High School (CHS) sophomore said.
When Covid-19 hit, Grover transformed his fashion. He had wanted to for a long time but lacked the confidence. So when he had the time, Grover and his mom went shopping and redesigned his wardrobe.
Unlike most, Grover dresses disregarding the weather.
“Today is 20 degrees outside, [but] I don’t really care how cold it is,” Grover said. “I’m going to wear what I want, when I want, so [the weather is] not really a big deal for me.”
To counter the weather, he finds ways to stay warm by adding fuzzy socks, a matching jacket, legwarmers and more.
He gets inspiration from the show RuPapul’s Drag Race. Grover has watched the show since 2017.
“I see how confident [the contestants] are with what they do and they don’t care about people’s opinions, and I want to be like that,” Grover said. “I don’t want to care about if people think I look horrible or if I shouldn’t wear what I’m wearing. I’m just gonna do it because I want to do it and I have been since [quarantine].”
Grover does not consider himself “fashionable.” Instead he chooses to wear what calls to him, whether that is “in” or “out” of trends.
Now, Grover has developed his style and gotten more comfortable and confident in his fashion. Each morning he wakes up at 6:30 a.m. to get ready. He devotes 30 minutes of his morning routine just to getting dressed. Grover’s aesthetic changes day to day based on his mood that morning. Generally, he picks one thing to base his outfit on and then builds off that with a color scheme and accessories. He picks from about 17 necklaces, seven rings and several other accessories.
“I feel more confident in what I wear, like I can do anything and I feel fine with it,” Grover said. “I feel more comfortable now with what I’m wearing. In freshman year I was really horrible at dressing up, let’s just say that. As time has gone past I’ve decided on what I want to wear. And I like myself a lot more now.”
Grover isn’t the only CHS student whose style has changed over the course of the pandemic. “I would say that for a lot of people after [returning to] school you could see the change in people and their style after Covid,” Grover said. “The reason I decided [to was] I had to just change on what I want to change.”
NW-13. Human Interest Feature
Human interest features appeal to the emotions of the reader with inspiration, motivation, pathos or humor and often make effective use of quotes. Enter descriptive, personal experience or accomplishment, or humor in this category. These are generally shorter stories.
Judging Criteria
- Lead captures attention, arouses curiosity
- Emphasizes new element, fresh angle
- Colorful, lively presentation; effective form/style
- Reflects adequate research, sound interviewing techniques
- Avoids summaries of published materials
- Effective use of facts/quotes
- Interesting; appeals to the emotions
- Proper diction/grammar