Junior Workshop Highlights

The project: A podcast on the cultural significance of sneakers, and specifically Jordans, in black and brown communities. 

The inspiration: Sneakers have been a big thing in my family, and at first, I felt like the topic was a little silly and not very scientific. When I started digging deeper, however, I realized that there was more of a historical and cultural impact to the conversation, which I think is just as important as the scientific element. The topic of sneakers wasn't as straightforward as I thought, especially when I studied the psychology and marketing and how those play a role in the industry. There was a lot of substance that came from something that I thought was a silly idea. Additionally, I had taken a course in 10th grade called Hip Hop Reimagined that covered Black culture. A lot of the themes we discussed in class were really relevant to my project and contributed to my desire to research the topic.

The process: I had a bit of a journey discovering what I wanted to do, but I landed at making a mini podcast where I interviewed community members. At the end, the podcast had five episodes that varied in length: some episodes featured personal stories where the interviewee shared their perspective on sneakers, and the other episodes dived more into the psychology of sneaker culture. For part of my research, I looked into how different groups work together within the shoe industry, like Travis Scott’s sneaker collaboration, and the impact on target audience, profit, and supply and demand. One of the most important parts of my Junior Workshop project was a realization that my culture could be a part of school assignments, and it didn't have to be something that was separate. That really drove my project – the idea that I was able to bring myself to school.

What I learned: I learned that what you often have in the forefront of your mind won't always be the end path. It’s important to be open to taking multiple paths and knowing that the journey of discovery will lead you to somewhere that you might have never even thought about, which I think is the beauty of Junior Workshop. You can dive into many different paths, and you don't know where you're going to end up. I think it’s a really good learning lesson that not everything is going to be what you originally thought it would.  

What’s next: I like the idea of podcasts and having a conversation with people to get their insight into different topics. It was fun to see how an interview took its own course, so podcasting might be something that I'd like to do. And as for the topic of sneakers, it's just always going to be relevant for me – whether it’s looking for a new pair to wear, or seeing what new sneakers are dropping.