1. Name: Hansel Romero
2. Major: International Studies and Applied Mathematics & Statistics
3. Hometown: Scotch Plains, NJ
4. Affiliated with: The Vocal Chords, Foreign Affairs Symposium, club baseball, The Digital Media Center, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Hopkins Undergraduate Society for Applied Mathematics
5. You can probably find me: downing unhealthy amounts of coffee and/or pretending to study in Brody.
6. What Not Yours Apparel is… Not Yours Apparel is a clothing brand that seeks to spark conversations on topics that are often left unaddressed in today’s music scene and society. By using clothing as a medium, we hope to make these topics accessible to anyone who’s ever been touched by music in any way. Our first line, called ‘Not Your Show,’ focuses on sexual misconduct and misogyny, and we want to empower anyone who wears our products to believe that they are worth more than anyone else’s preconceived opinions or impositions upon them.
7. Why I got involved with Not Yours Apparel… Everyone has their own story. The experiences that people go through and that shape them are unique to them and them alone. I go to concerts to let loose and have fun in a place I feel comfortable enough to do so; what I didn’t know was that women everywhere cannot feel the same way in that setting. A place that I so fundamentally believed to be safe and inclusive turns out to largely be the exact opposite for so many people, and I can’t believe that. So my partners and I wanted to do something that could help change that and make our scene (and society) safer for anyone and everyone, one step at a time–we’re starting by focusing on the sexual harassment and inequality aspect thereof, but we hope to expand to discuss topics like mental health, body positivity, social inequality, and other sensitive issues.
8. The best thing about Hopkins is: being surrounded by so many incredible people all of the time. It’s truly inspiring to see all of the amazing things my peers are doing, and I’m honored to be a part of such an awesome community.
9. Something I’m especially proud of is: surviving my first year of college in one piece (somewhat).
10. Something most people don’t know about me is… I was supposed to be named Elliot just about until the moment I was born.
11. This year, I hope to… continue to grow as a person…and, you know, survive my second year of college. Easier said than done.
12. In five years, I will be… hopefully either in grad school studying something I’m very passionate about or running some kind of social enterprise or non-profit and bringing about real, substantive change in our world.
13. Next up for me is…(an event or project you may be working on): seeking investors and other capital for NYA and getting the company on its feet, continuing the “I am…” project, recording an EP with a new band, writing/recording for my solo project, hopefully sleeping more.
14. Anything else you want us to know? NYA will be launching an Indiegogo campaign this month, which will offer tons of awesome rewards for donating to our launch, so look out for that! In addition, find me around campus and take a picture with our “I am…” sign to show your support and tell the world why you’re not theirs, not ever.