As Seen in the Hallways: Romy Shoam, Liberal Arts

Photo via Talia Kliot

Interview by Talia Kliot

Can you describe yourself using 3 nouns, just to spice it up a bit (everyone always asks for adjectives.)

Umm… [Long thoughtful pause as Romy sips from her London Fog drink]. Can we come back. [We didn’t, this question was evidently too spicy.]

What program are you in?

Liberal Arts. That I know the answer to.

What do you like the most about it?

I like the freedom to choose research essay topics to pursue in addition to what goes on in class, and that we have the independence to learn about what we want to learn about.

What else do you do in your spare time?

I’m on the Dawson rowing team, and that takes up quite a bit of time, but I do it happily. I really like baking, I like eating chocolate, ice cream, and taking walks with my dog. I also like thinking up these huge projects and giving myself too much work to do, and then needing to scale back.

So tell me more about these huge projects.

It started off with my friend Alia Dobson and me feeling like we’re not doing enough to reduce our own waste and carbon footprint, and by us having a lack of a realistic way to do so, versus those perfect Pinterest zero-waste lifestyles. We’re trying to create something that allows us to reach this goal, not only on a personal level, but also in our community. Our medium is Instagram. We’re starting an account which will be the basis of our campaigns, service, and waste reduction inspiration for people around our age in a city. Our whole focus is that we want to create this curated space of accessible and affordable ways to reduce waste with a fashion focus. We’re going to target the fast fashion industry and illuminate what environmental impact it has as well as shining a light on slow fashion and second hand shopping. But we are coming to this as environmentalists in progress, so we recognize that we don’t have all the answers. We make a lot of mistakes, but we’re trying, and we’re trying to get everyone to try with us.

That’s awesome. What’s the Instagram account going to be called?

@costumechange.co

Now for a more pressing question: do you zip or clip your pants first?

I always button first, but I have a special spot in my heart for button-fly jeans, so I’ll always button from the bottom up, if that’s the equivalent.