“High school is just scary, and I’m convinced everybody is judging me at all times,” senior Anna Smith said. “But if I’m going to do something embarrassing or get judged for something, [I] might as well make it for a good cause.”
Smith, a student at Emmaus High School, wears a dress every day during the cold month of December. Though it may not be the ideal weather for a dress, Smith participates in “Dressember,” a global collaborative movement that uses dresses to make a statement against human trafficking.
“Human trafficking is one of the most widespread and biggest human rights conflicts that is happening right now, and I know it seems like it is only happening in foreign countries, [or] it’s only happening far away, but it’s not,” Smith said. “It happens everywhere. It happens every day. It can happen to anyone.”
By bringing Dressember to EHS, Smith has not only raised awareness, but has also spread knowledge.
“I don’t think people on a daily basis are just thinking about human trafficking and its implications in the world and everything,” Smith said. “It [wearing a dress] brings attention and engagement to something…I don’t think that human trafficking is at the forefront of many minds.”In addition to wearing a dress, Smith wears an attention-grabbing pin that reads, “Ask me about my dress,” to which she responds by educating those who ask on the issue of human trafficking as well as directing them to her donation page.
Throughout her four years as an advocate with Dressember, Smith has raised around $900. Altogether, Dressember has raised $20 million. This money is utilized throughout the world to fund anti-trafficking projects such as emergency projects that not only rescue children from immediate danger, but also supports adult victims as well.
Smith impacts her community in several ways, due to her passion for activism since her freshman year, when she began participating in Dressember and joined the Activism Club.
Her junior year, Smith hosted a thrift shop to encourage purchasing second-hand clothing, a principle which she values greatly. In fact, she refrains from purchasing new dresses, though she wears one every day of December.
“I love that it [Dressember] is a fashion challenge,” Smith said. “I do love clothes, and I love dressing up, and I love experimenting with things, so I love fashion.”
In addition to wearing dresses during Dressember, Smith hosts a virtual Dressember 5K race that takes place in April. The run requires a participation fee that acts as a donation since Dressember accepts contributions throughout the entire year, not just December. Smith gathers her family and friends to run the 5K alongside her.
“I host the 5K every year, and it’s never a big thing, but I get like 10 or 15 family members and friends to run it with me,” Smith said. “And then I run that in a dress which sucks, but I do it.”
Smith’s friend, senior Rylie Newpher, has participated in the 5K multiple times. Newpher admires Smith’s passion.
“She is so passionate about everything she does,” Newpher said. “Her grades are amazing. She is so studious. Even with her friendships, she is always striving to check in on people.”
Though Smith is passionate about everything that she is a part of, she wishes to be remembered as more than her work and extracurricular activities.
“I want to be remembered as someone that people liked, or somebody that helped to support others, or that others could rely on,” Smith said. “When it comes to being involved in my community, which I think I am a lot, I don’t want it to be like an extracurricular list. I want [people] to be like ‘no, she was known by people and liked by people, and had a lot of friendships and bonds and helped people.’”
