The usual attire for senior Sarah Stoeck is black from head to toe, with pale face and fishnet stockings. Stoeck is often perceived as the school “goth,” though Stoeck wouldn’t define herself as one.
“I wear what I like, I don’t conform to any kind of clothing,” Stoeck said. “That yellow dress I own is definitely not goth.”
Though Stoeck owns non-goth clothing, she usually appears in black when she attends school.
“I’ve been fascinated by things on the darker side,” Stoeck said. “Things that not a lot of people are interested in.”
Stoeck began to choose dark pieces of clothing in seventh grade when she got to pick her own clothes.
“I never was a normal kid,” Stoeck said. “My birthday parties in elementary school involved dying each other’s hair odd colors.”
Though Stoeck does buy clothes at stores like Oh My Goth, she shops at other stores more, like mainstream boutiques, too. Stoeck can find clothes at any store she goes to but she doesn’t shop at Hot Topic, a goth store in Park Meadows. Most of her clothes come from Guess, Metro Park and Cool Waves.
“Clothing can represent who you are, but not everything about you,” Stoeck said. “A person is very complicated.”
Though you can’t judge a book by its cover, Stoeck has found that reactions from other people on her looks tell her a lot about people.
“People have told me that they were afraid to talk to me,” Stoeck said. “[They say] ‘I thought you were going to put a Satanic curse on me.’”
Though Stoeck’s clothes may give off the attitude of not caring, Stoeck is quite the opposite. Stoeck is currently taking five AP classes and has a high grade point average.
“I take pride in being a good student,” Stoeck said. “I have high hopes for my career.”
Stoeck plans to attend University of Colorado next year and is applying to the honors dorm. She is currently thinking of majoring in bioengineering and hopes to go on to medical school to become a doctor. The majority of students who take the bioengineering program at University of Colorado attend medical school.
“I test myself,” Stoeck said. “I’ve been very privileged. I feel like I need to earn what I have.”
However, being a doctor isn’t the only thing Stoeck wants out of life.
“[I want to be] completely financially independent,” Stoeck said. “I want to live where money is not a concern, live comfortably and I want to get married.”
Through her clothes Stoeck has been able to choose her friends by evaluating other people’s reactions.
“People who dismiss you aren’t worth your time,” Stoeck said. “I’ve become more self-confident.”
Stoeck has surrounded herself with friends who she believes will help her goals and not hinder them. Stoeck doesn’t mind the jokes about her looks.
“I like it when people joke that I am a Satan worshiper,” Stoeck said. “They have a good sense of humor.”
In the future Stoeck believes her clothing will change. At college, she doesn’t think she will have enough time to dress as elaborately as she does now. And when Stoeck enters the work force her outfit choice will change, along with her makeup and hair.
“I never made the decision [to be a goth],” Stoeck said. “It was a long, involved process to develop this style. A person doesn’t wake up and decide to be an ‘Aberzombie.’”