Emmett, 15 years old, VA | 1 DAY WAITING | NEEDED BY 11/13

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Emmett notices the way afternoon light stretches across a parking lot, a skateboarder landing a trick on the fifth try, an old man laughing at a joke only he heard. Emmett entered foster care when he was small, and he has been the new kid in more classrooms than he can count. He has learned how much a first impression matters, and how heavy it can feel to walk into a room of strangers wearing someone else’s hand-me-downs and hoping no one looks too closely. Filming became his way to see the world on his own terms. Through the lens, he is never the outsider. He tells the story. Emmett is thoughtful, funny, and more determined than he lets on. He spends his weekends at the skate park, filming his friends and editing clips late into the night, and he dreams of becoming a filmmaker whose stories make kids like him feel seen. He is just starting to find his style, and he is ready for someone to believe in his vision.

For a boy who's spent years trying to blend in, a bold red jacket is a brave statement. Emmett has had his eye on a classic nylon jacket from Mixed Emotion, the kind that looks sharp at the skate park, on the first day at a new school, and everywhere in between. It would be the first piece of clothing that feels chosen to match who he is, rather than whatever happened to fit. When you spend so much of your life being the new kid, walking in with something that makes you feel confident can change the whole day.