After spending a month fulfilling his life-long dream of studying fashion design in Chicago, Jonathan Cantu has returned to Immokalee. Eager to spend the remainder of his summer with his family and close friends, Jonathan is now looking back on his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with great fondness and overwhelming gratitude. Jonathan recently checked in to share his thoughts on his time in Chicago, his life in Immokalee, and his young, bright future.

Continue on for links to Jonathan's previous posts, to see his final collection, and to hear his final thoughts on the entire experience.

Here is my first five-piece collection. I used cool shapes and bright colors. I feel that it works together as a collection. I cut out the shapes from magazines adds and put them back together. I based my collection on that and then added my own colors.

My final project wasn't easy. I had to come up with something random for my story board, then from there I had to make my 10 piece collection. Well I thought about about it for a day or two and finally I came up with this. I was in the city of Chicago and there were building all around me. It made me sad to see some of these beautiful buildings decaying. To me it was a spark of sadness, so I exaggerated that feeling. My collection was created to be dramatic. The beautiful dresses decaying, some having vails and having the models eyes closed, I thought it would give it that dramatic feel I wanted in this collection, using darker colors.

On Being Back in Immokalee

Wow, things feel so different now that I'm back in Immokalee. To be honest, I really wish I could be back in Chicago studying fashion again. I love Immokalee and everything it's becoming but this is only where my journey begins.

Looking Back

I have missed my friends and family here in Immokalee but now I'm missing my friends and family (The Zedniks) in Chicago. It's difficult to really compare Immokalee to Chicago. They are both important to me. A part of me will always be in Chicago and a part of me will always be in Immokalee but my future is still yet come. In one year, I'll be off to college and I have a lot of work ahead of me.

On Fashion

Coming from Immokalee you would never think that someone like me would be so interested in fashion. I may come from a small town but I know the direction in life I want to go and I'm driven by the chance to one day see one of my dress designs on the red carpet. I've always loved seeing the beginning of the award shows. Thats where it all started for me. It wasn't about the best actress of the year or who won what award. For me, it was who is wearing what designer and who is the best and worst dressed. I love reading fashion magazines and educating myself on the subject.

Looking Ahead

I want to study in a big city and Chicago was a great stepping stone. The truth is, the biggest fashion scenes are in New York and L.A. They both have great fashion schools and some that even offer study abroad programs to go to Paris or Milan. The question I most ask myself is, "Where will I get the best opportunities?" Over the next few months, I will be looking up a lot of these major fashion schools. I will still be looking into The School of Art Institute of Chicago but only time will tell where I end up.

Giving Thanks

This being my last post, I wanted to thank everyone who has kept up with me over the last month and I wanted to thank The Immokalee Foundation for giving me this space to share my experiences in Chicago. TIF has been so great to me and I will continue to thank them. I have made great lifelong friends in the Zedniks. I can talk to Joe and Dee about anything and they have truly been gracious in letting me stay in their home while I was in Chicago. Hopefully this isn't the last you will hear from me. I hope one day you will see my clothes in every mall you visit. I control my future and I see myself one day making it big in the fashion industry.

Have a look back at Jonathan's previous posts:

June 22

June 29

July 2

July 7

July 13

July 16