Sophomore Umberto Pinedo-Banuelos Jr is often seen by students walking the halls in a military uniform, and while many notice it, only he and the people closest to him know the reason why.

At Englewood High School you can see a variety of different outfits yet this is the first full military uniform seen in the school.

Banuelos describes his outfit as, “very organized,” and he wouldn’t want it any other way.

When asked if students questioned him or picked on him, “The students come and they go. They don’t get the whole uniform idea of what it actually means, but when those things happen, I don’t listen to them.”

Students continue to question and wonder but there are things they should know, “Everyone wears different things. People wear sweaters to school, others wear crocs. I don’t bother them, why should they bother me?” said Banuelos.

Whether you wonder about the outfit or not, the question for many is all the same, ‘why?’

Banuelos let us know he has three family members who were in the Mexican Army and an Uncle in the Mexican Air Force, “In the uniform, I feel very important. I feel like I have a certain purpose here in school.”

For Banuelos, the clothes make the man, “I choose to wear my uniforms because I like to feel different. It makes me feel very comfortable about myself and my social status,” said Banuelos. 

You can wonder and judge someone’s choices but you will never fully understand until you ask why. Take some advice from Ted Lasso!