By Nathaniel Cardoza
Life is too short to not chase your dreams. Senior Matt Campbell is someone who truly wishes to impact people’s lives. He is not your stereotypical “go-getter”, but he is someone who loves fashion and hair.
However, his interests in fashion and hair hide in the shadows of his other characteristics. Mr. Campbell is a three season captain, president of his class, is a part of National Honors Society, and is a triplet. Like other high school students, Mr. Campbell enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also enjoys playing sports. He strives for excellence everyday as he wishes to become an officer in the Navy. He has the so-called “can-do” attitude. It really impacts his life, to the point where his biggest fear is knowing that he did not try his best and that he will become unsatisfied with himself in his lifetime. In order words, he does what he does so that he would be self-satisfied and make a difference in the world.
Mr. Campbell looks at the world with such curiosity and thought. He sees himself as a “young 18 year old boy”, instead of a young man. He is very self-aware of himself and the things going on around him. The craziest thing Mr. Campbell believed he did was travel to Africa for a month. People may wonder why that is crazy, but Mr. Campbell’s comprehension of the world allows him to see multiple angles of a situation, rather than one view.
“Going at this point in my life and also in the state of the world is crazy,” said Campbell.
However with all of these thoughts in mind, Mr. Campbell’s perception of the world changed as he saw a new way of life and enjoyed interacting with the villagers and kids at a school called Ndwili school when he was in Africa. There at that school he looked at how people found joy from the simplest of things. This observance had taught Campbell to appreciate the things and opportunities in his life.
He has an undying obsession with fashion and hair. The first impression or stereotype that you would create is this preppy kid who acts like a jock or a suck up. His love for cutting hair is rare. He has even created his own underground business called Campbell Cuts.
Campbell describes the barbershop in his basement as more of a “hobby”, than work.
“It is really cool to see the different walks of life,” Campbell said.
He notices how much gossip happens in the barbershop and finds it cool that everyone in there gets along and talks to each other, even though they come from different backgrounds. He knows besides the barbershop, these kids would never talk to each other. Matt thinks that this is a unique way to bring people closer together. Matt had the wild idea of creating this barbershop because it is “different and cool”. He loves how his barber shop creates a fun and exciting vibe as people joke around, listen to music, eat and tell stories of past experiences or situations.
“Sometimes my barber shop reminds me of the movie (The Barbershop) with Ice Cube,” says Campbell.
Matt also adores all different style of clothing. He loves clothes and their designs. He is very passionate about dressing up and would like to create his own clothing brand.
“I always love to see new clothes and choose a good looking outfit for the day,” Campbell says.
For his senior project he is chasing his dream of creating the clothing brand and using the design to raise awareness for depression. He brilliantly mixes his dream and passion, with something that needs to be worked on as a society. Like his personality, he wishes to impact people’s lives by blending it creatively with his passion in fashion. Campbell named his brand “You Matter,” to promote a new style into lives, but also to let people fighting depression know that they matter in this world and that they should not give up on themselves.
Campbell displays hints of his character as a person through these abstract ideas of fashion and hair, as it reveals his passions and desires to pour some light in the world and to connect with people. This is just the beginning for Mr. Campbell in his pursuit for happiness.