Our magazine's original vision was to highlight and celebrate our Asian and Asian American culture, especially within our local communities. A community, however, is only as strong as the people who comprise it. Within this month’s publication, we wanted to explore the personal stories of five Asian / Asian American students and their connection with passion.
Through these interviews, we hope to showcase more facets of the Asian / Asian American experience, through our own lens as students and fellow members of this community. After all, it is important to embrace the diversity of our passions (and by extension, our culture), rather than allow the perpetuation of the stereotypes in how our passions are perceived and understood.
Once again, I would like to thank everyone who has helped to make this magazine possible. As we come closer and closer to the end of the year, it still blows me away how much this publication has grown. I hope that you enjoy this month’s magazine, at least as much as we enjoyed creating it.
Sincerely,
Anthony Nguyen | Editor-in-ChiefPLEASE CONTACT ME AT OUAASA.GENSEC@GMAIL.COM WITH ANY COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, OR CONCERNS.
AUDITIONS END
MARCH 8, 11:59 PM
thursday, march 23rd | 7 PM
Year & Major
Sophomore, Psychology
Favorite Quote
"Let your smile change the world"
- Conner Franta
Interesting Fact:
Adrianna used to be a competitive archer.
she/her
Edmond, OKshe/her
Year & Major:
Sophomore, Psychology/Pre-Dental
Favorite Quote:
"The way of water has no beginning and no end. Our hearts beat in the womb of the world. Water connects all things, life to death, darkness to light. The sea gives and the sea takes."
Interesting Fact:
"I'm really superstitious, I always guess things in detail before it happens, and it always happens the way I say it."
Year & Major: Sophomore, Computer Engineering
Favorite Quote: "Kindness is a language everyone can understand"
Interesting Fact: Mak is a twin, and her favorite food is ice cream.
Year & Major: Sophomore, Chemical Biosciences & Minor in Healthcare Business/Pre-Med
Favorite Quote:
"If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor" - Eleanor Roosevelt
Interesting Fact:
Simi knows all 229 of Taylor Swift's songs.
South OKC, OKshe/her
Year & Major: Sophomore, Social Work & Chemical Biosciences
Favorite Quote:
"The truth is a matter of circumstances. It's not all things to all people all the time."
- Natasha RomanoffInteresting Fact: Her longest ever dance was 30 minutes straight.
Year & Major: Senior, Health & Exercise Science
Favorite Quote: "Everything happens for a reason."
Interesting Fact:
Vyctoria has a scar on the back of her head due to a fall she had when she was little by splitting her head open on concrete.
Year & Major: Junior, Health & Exercise Science/Pre-Med
Favorite Quote: "Eunoia [yoo-noy-uh] (n.) A pure and wellbalanced mind, a good spirit. Beautiful thinking.”
Interesting Fact: Vivian has a yorkie named Suki.
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AsianAmericanStudentAssociation | 5th General Body Meeting
March 1st | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center 01
Join us for some musical activities and a fun time at our 5th GBM! The 2023-2024 General Member shirts will be available for pickup, and there will be free food from Thai Delight!
TauKappaOmega | Benefit Night
March 1st | 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm | QDOBA, 2620 Classen Blvd 01
Join us for our QDOBA Benefit Night to support the brothers of Tau Kappa Omega! Eat your fill and come hang with your favorite brothers!
LambdaDeltaPsi | The Dragonfly Home: Speaker's Night
March 7th | 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm | Wagner Hall 240 07
Come out and learn more about the Dragonfly Home's purpose and mission!
AsianAmericanStudentAssociationxMiracleMindset | Bake Sale
March 8th | Time: TBD | Location: TBD 08
Join us for our bake sale, where we will be selling cookies, brownies, muffins, Oreo balls, and tiramisu! All proceeds will benefit Miracle Mindset, a program benefitting low-income and firstgeneration high schoolers.
LambdaDeltaPsi | The Dragonfly Home: Gala
March 10 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | Oklahoma Memorial Union, Scholars Room 10
Come out and support the Dragonfly Home at our gala! It'll be a night full of fun activites, food, and the chance to win some raffle prizes!
AlphaKappaDeltaPhi | invASIAN Audition Form
March 19th | 11:59 pm | Video Application
The Chi Chapter of alpha Kappa Delta Phi will be holding our 15th annual invASIAN. People's amazing talents create a sense of enlightenment as we challenge persisting stigmas Submit your video application to our form by contacting oukdphi external@gmail com
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VietnameseStudentAssociation | Bake Sale
March 22nd | 10:00 am - 2:00 pm | South Oval
Come out to VSA's bake sale and enjoy some yummy goodies from yours truly ;)
AsianAmericanStudentAssociationxCAC | Live Music Night
March 23rd | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | Union Courtyard
Join us for a fun-filled night in collaboration with CAC Concert Series, with live music performances!
AsianAmericanStudentAssociation xOKAASA | OK AASA Picnic
March 24th | 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm | Hafer Park
Come out and meet members from fellow Oklahoma AASA organizations, such as OSU, UCO, TU, and OBU!
TauKappaOmega | Philanthropy Bake Sale
March 28th | 10:00 am - 1:00 pm | South Oval
Tau Kappa Omega will be having their Philanthropy Bake Sale to help support the Sunflower Mission to raise funds for education for underprivileged students in Vietnam. Come support by grabbing your favorite baked goods!
VietnameseStudentAssociation | General Body Meeting
March 28th | 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm | Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center
Come out to our second GBM of the semester!
AlphaKappaDeltaPhi | Bake Sale
March 29th | 10:30 am - 1:00 pm | South Oval
We will be hosting our monthly bake sale where we will be selling our yummy musubi, spicy musubi, and kimbap!
TauKappaOmega | Philanthropy Night w/ Phi Dee
March 30th | 5:00 pm - 12:00 am | Location: TBD
Ready for a fun and fresh time? Taikos and Phi Dee will be hosting their very first joint philanthropy night! Come out for a night of games, food, and entertainment Come see your favorite taikos get their head shaved, and raise some funds for philanthropy!
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All interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept
Photo by Tristan Timog
Alayna Wong is a 4th-year Ballet Pedagogy major at the University of Oklahoma. Nearing two decades of ballet experience, she hopes to showcase ballet’s beauty as an art form.
interview by Kaella Glenn and Anthony Nguyen photography by Victor Nguyen and Tristan Timog
Victor Nguyen
Why ballet? What drew you to this style of dance?
It’s the first one that I grew up with. The studio that my mom put me in offered everything. Ballet, tap, modern, jazz, lyrical, musical theater, all things. And for some reason, ballet was the only one that I liked as a kid. As I got older, I realized I had to be able to do everything in order to succeed out there in the dance world. You have to be versatile, you have to be capable of everything.
And then, as I took those classes, I started to appreciate them more. And I won’t say that I’m bad at them necessarily. But without sounding too cliché, ballet makes me feel beautiful when I dance. At the same time, I think that the lines and the shapes and the movements that we can do with our bodies in ballet just take your breath away when they’re done well. Instagram was full of videos of people dancing, and I have this feeling of “Wow, I would love to be doing that on stage with them.”
The euphoria that it provides me, I can’t get from any other style of dance. All the other styles are great. Jazz is very fun. I’m really bad at tap. Modern dance has a lot of cool acrobatics. Ballet is different, and I think that’s just what attracted me the most.
What has your journey looked like so far? I started at a small school, like a community center. And my mom signed me up for the Huntington Academy of Dance, in California.
"But without sounding too cliché, ballet makes me feel beautiful when I dance."Tristan Timog
The School of Dance has provided me with four more years of really good training. I feel that I’ve improved a lot as a dancer, as well as done a lot of networking. I’ve connected with artistic directors and companies. I’ve gotten to do so many performances that I would have never dreamed of doing before.
What do you hope to achieve as a ballerina, both short-term and long-term goals?
I would love to just dance full time. I used to say that I wanted to dance professionally, but in the last year or two, I’ve had the chance to do that in different capacities. I was a guest artist for the Nutcracker in a school in Arkansas. I was really lucky to book that gig.
And then, we moved to Washington in 2014, where I joined a professional-level ballet school. It was a different style that I wasn’t used to, but it was good to have that training. Then, I joined Oklahoma City Ballet for a year as a trainee, where I was basically an unpaid intern.
The University of Oklahoma has one of the top-rated ballet programs in the nation, and since I was already here for a year, I could qualify for resident tuition. I was like, “Let’s see what happens” and I got in. And it was the best decision I’ve ever made.
That taste of being onstage. Of thinking that somebody paid me to do this and it’s all I have to focus on? I want to do more of it. I would love to just do that full-time. As long as I can. As long as my body will hold.
I also love teaching. I’m actually majoring in ballet pedagogy. We have a performance track and a pedagogy track in ballet. The two majors are very similar. But I also learned how to teach, as well as some classes in psychology and all these things. I feel that teaching comes quite naturally to me.
And I also enjoy choreography. I’ve been selected to present in the Young Choreographers Showcase on campus for three years in a row, which has been really cool.
There’s a lot to do out there. I love the arts administration side, which is why I’m going for a business minor. Not the accounting stuff, I won’t lie, but the management stuff is very interesting to me. There’s a lot I can do outside of just performing. I just want to be involved in the dance world for as long as possible.
What are your thoughts on choreography, and how is it different from regular performance? Which one do you prefer?
I prefer performing. Ballet dancers, we like being told what to do. We like being given the rules and rigidity as a culture, it’s how we are. We don’t like being told to make up our own steps. Improvisation is one of the scariest things on the planet, but I like the freedom that choreography gives.
I feel like I need more practice at it. I always think “Do people like that? Do they think that was okay? Was that boring? Was that visually interesting or not?” I would love to continue practicing choreography on other people in different styles, different numbers of people. But right now, I’m very focused on performing, because, frankly, my body can only handle it for so long.
Victor NguyenYou also said that you have taught ballet before, right?
I came to OU because they offer a ballet pedagogy track. I’ve studied under teachers who taught because they didn’t make it in the ballet world, so they’re bitter about it. I’ve also taken classes from teachers who succeeded but they were so naturally gifted that they don’t know how to tell you how to do it. They’re just like, “Just do it.”
You’ve mentioned that because you were brought up in an Asian culture, it somewhat prepared you for the world of ballet. Could you elaborate further on that?
Traditionally, Chinese upbringing is quite strict. I got spanked as a kid, and that was normal to me. And my mom held me to very high standards when it came to everything, not just academics.
So I was like, “How do you actually communicate the information and guide them throughout time to hit these milestones and goals?” In my head, I think that a teacher should have traveled the path that they’re guiding students along. Because if you’ve never been there, how are you going to push students to get there? I love performing and teaching, so my goal is to be a teacher after I stop performing professionally.
I think it’s important to teach correctly in order to raise the next generation of dancers in a non-toxic environment. And we’re working on that right now. My generation is saying “Hey, that’s not right” or “That’s not how you should say things.” So I’m excited to see where I can take that.
When it comes to ballet, it’s the same kind of idea. The first school that I went to, they were actually very nice. They were very American, and the culture was like “Only put your body to where it goes” and “Oh, I think you could do that better.” I think that’s healthy, that’s great. But when I went to the other school in Washington, that was run by a Russian teacher, who was more stereotypical.
When you think of a toxic ballet school, it’s usually because they have a European-type training background. They’d get loud, or in the olden days, they’d hold a cigarette under your leg to make sure you didn’t drop it or hit you with a staff. They don’t do that anymore, though.
I’m not condoning that at all, but ballet standards are strict.
Ballet is very rigid, and you have to push hard for the results. If you aren’t going to push yourself, the teachers are going to push you. For me, getting yelled at by the teachers, I’m okay. Yeah, sure, I get that at home. But when I’m reading about people going back and addressing the toxic environment of ballet education, I guess I didn’t realize how much it didn’t affect me.
Your parents are both engineers. Was there any kind of turmoil between your decision to strive towards becoming a professional ballerina. Were there any STEM expectations they may have had for you?
Not at all, and I’m grateful for my parents for that. But the opposition came more from my grandparents and my extended family. Especially when I made the decision to come to college for a dance degree. Because my family, especially my mom’s side, has given her a lot of trash talk for allowing me to make those decisions. I have two sisters, and all three of us dance. They’re like, “Why are you letting your kids go into a field that doesn’t make money.”
And my mom actually told them “Our parents brought us to America to give us a better life, to give us more hope for a successful future. "
"We came here to have better opportunities, and I’m giving those opportunities to my kids.”
I’m not doing it for the money. I’m really grateful and blessed to be in a position where I don’t have to do it for the money, if that makes sense. I’ve fully planned to support myself when I’m out there. I know how much the starting salary is going to be. I’m looking at the cost of living in whatever city. I understand ballet dancers typically have to have a second job. I’m okay with that. Whatever it takes to fulfill this as a career.
Years from now, how would you like to look back on your career as a dancer?
Ultimately, I perform for myself. I perform because it makes me happy. But I also do this because it makes other people happy. The people in the audience. I want them to see me perform and to feel something from it. If I’m performing a happy scene, if it’s a wedding scene in a ballet, I want them to be happy and joyous. Or if it’s Giselle and its death scene. There’s a power in storytelling, that comes from movement and not from words. To evoke these feelings in people without having to tell them to feel a certain way.
What does passion mean to you?
I think I would define passion as the utmost desire and love for something, or someone if you want to define it that way.
Imagine you have a passion for something, but you have to quench it for something else, whether that’s your career or other circumstances. You’re always going to have that passion and the flame can be fed. You know, I think that it’s really cool that people have the capability to do that.
Tristan Timog is a Norman-based film photographer. He is studying Biomedical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma and plans on pursuing a Ph.D. He considers himself a creative hobbyist, practicing photography, exploring fashion, and making music in his free time.
Victor Nguyen is a Norman-based photographer studying Biomedical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. He focuses on his artistic side through exploring film and digital photography, orchestra, and graphic design.
Emma Nguyen is a 1st-year Biology major on the Pre-Optometry track at the University of Oklahoma. Through her photography, she wants to capture people and their own stories.
interview by Anthony Nguyen photography by Emma Nguyen
Ok, this is going to sound really boring. Somebody asked me this on the way over here, and I started giving them the copy-paste answer. But if you ask almost any photographer, what they’d tell you is that they’ve always had an interest in it since childhood and it wasn’t until recently that they got really into photography. And lowkey, that’s kind of the same for me too. But really what it stems from for me is my background in fine art. I had always painted a little bit as a child, because my mom really got me and my siblings into painting. And it kind of transitioned into more of an interest in digital art. What I really liked about photography was the ability to manipulate your subjects in real-time, and then being able to go back over that in post-processing with even finer control.
And especially if this is a styled shoot, I’ll want to look for someone who would be able to fit this specific theme that I’m shooting for. From there, I’ll communicate with them about wardrobe and hairstyling, and oh yeah, I’ll also make a mood board.
You've mentioned creative burnout as something you’ve had to experience. I know that people deal with it in different ways, but could you go more indepth about how you approach creative burnout?
For me, I would usually start with a concept or an idea. It really helps if I go into something with a theme in mind. Then, I’ll want to scout out a location, check lighting, check how busy it’ll be at certain times during the day.
Honest answer, I don’t. I just sit around in my room. But when I was racking my brain for ideas for my “Becoming Asian American” project, one of the things that I really turned to was collecting inspiration from other photographers on Instagram. And this was when I really started getting into Pinterest. Just being able to collect those ideas and curate photos that I really enjoy and could replicate. I also really enjoy just jotting ideas down in my journal, whether it’s different outfits or just sketching. Being able to put that on paper and have something to look back, rather than having it floating in my mind and giving it that opportunity to slip away, really helps.
People often say, “A photo is worth a thousand words.” How do you approach storytelling as a photographer?
I think what we’ve been seeing is a new shift towards wanting to be able to tell stories in your photos, especially on social media. What I like to do, in a way to incorporate storytelling in photography, is going back to the idea of mood boards. Taking inspiration from other photographers. Then, on shoot, I’ll try to get my models in a comfortable position to be able to direct them with more natural or candid poses to create whatever story I want to tell.
A few years ago, you did a stylized photoshoot called “Becoming Asian American.” How did those storytelling elements play into that?
That was a project for my Senior Capstone in high school. “Becoming Asian American” was really the culmination of a series of interviews that I did with the Asian American students in my grade. There were about a dozen of us out of about 225. What I really wanted to know was what it felt like for them to grow up in these communities and how they felt connected to their culture, especially in an environment that doesn’t necessarily enhance their cultural experience.
And from there, I reflected on what they had told me, and what I really wanted to hone in on for the shoot was this feeling of nostalgia.
For me, especially, it was what I had felt in my childhood, like these little actions that my parents would incorporate into my life in an attempt to get me closer to my culture. Just going to the local Vietnamese Catholic Church, or even going to Sunday school, which I hated. I eventually stopped going, and that part kind of felt alienating to me.
Because going into high school, you have all these feeder schools, and some of those other feeder schools have more of a Vietnamese community. Whereas the elementary and middle schools I went to was predominantly white. Going into high school, I felt this disconnect, not only from my own culture but also from the community. I observed that other students already had known each other from previous years, and that’s also something I’ve noticed at OU as well. It’s really difficult to find yourself in that pre-established community.
And so, back in high school, what I really wanted to discover was what that connection meant to them. And what cultural ties, if there were any, influenced their outlook and perspective on life.
I see that you’ve been getting more involved within the Asian American community here at OU. For instance, I know you’re an intern with the Vietnamese Student Association. How has that helped you to reconnect with your culture and community?
Obviously, I don’t want to reiterate too much, but I had grown up mostly surrounded by a white community.
So that’s really where I felt most comfortable. The few Asian friends that I did have, I was not entirely connected to them, to say the least.
I had never been in a space or comfortable in a space where the majority of those people were Vietnamese. And so, coming to VSA was not really a goal of mine at the beginning of the year, but I had a friend who had told me about the intern program and I just decided to apply on a whim.
And in the beginning stages, it was kind of difficult because it’s an entirely different dynamic. Especially when you’re surrounded by people who have grown up in different circumstances and what really feels like a different culture. At the first General Body Meeting, everyone said their favorite food and they would say it in Vietnamese. What I said was “egg roll” because I didn’t know what anything else meant.
But what’s been really amazing about being with the executive team is that they’ve made an effort to not only be inclusive to me, but to be inclusive to the other members who I can see myself in, being disconnected from the community. And I think that’s been a really amazing experience.
In some of your recent photoshoots, “New Beginnings” and “Uncultured”, they were culturally rooted. How have your experiences with OU’s Asian American community influenced your decision to pursue these routes?
I think, overall, just that comfortability with working with these topics of culture and perceptions has really allowed me
the creative comfortability to explore those topics. Especially being able to meet and to get to know other people in this community, who are able to work with me and collaborate with me on these topics that I don’t know if I would feel comfortable navigating on my own.
What does passion mean to you?
Passion means to me to be something that you find and you just know, in your heart, that it fits you. And it’s what you’ll enjoy doing, even if you’re not good at it at first. That there’s something in that hobby that turns into a passion, that drives you to want to continue working on it and keep building your skills.
I had a little bit of trouble with this. In the past two years, I really overworked myself creatively. And for a time, I had to take a hiatus from my photography work. I would repeatedly try to come back to it with styled shoots, but I would get into this rut where I would shoot and not really know what to do with the photos afterwards. I was in this editing rut where nothing felt good to me. Nothing really turned out the way that I wanted, and it takes either an outside creative force – like the magazine – or being able to work with someone really special to be able to reignite that passion.
Quinn Smith is a 3rd-year Biomedical Engineering major at the University of Oklahoma. After immigrating to America as an adoptee as an infant, she competed at the highest level of gymnastics in a storied 17-year career.
interview by Kaella Glenn and Anthony Nguyen photography by Emma Nguyen
What brought me into gymnastics is my mom. I think she just wanted me to try all sports. I mean, I did Tee-ball, soccer, swimming, and running club. I also tried Irish dancing, which is one thing no one knows about me. I stuck with gymnastics, and I've done it for 17 years. It just stuck with me, but I was more competitive with gymnastics as a sport. I loved the team aspect, and I loved the feeling of reward when I did it. It's just such a cool sport to watch and it's fascinating to be a part of.
You mention about how your mom introduced you to the sport. Can you talk about the role that your mother had in your process of getting into gymnastics?
I was raised by a single mom; she just wasn't married. I mean, she was married before, but I was raised by just her, which was fine. In fact, it was great! We are really close and when she saw that I enjoyed gymnastics she said, “Well, why don't we just keep doing it?” Though, gymnastics is not the most financially accessible sport to get involved in. It can get really expensive with the outfits, the training… It can be a lot.
There are so many monthly fees that go into it doing the sport, but nonetheless, my mom saw that I enjoyed it, and so she kept supporting me with it since we were both very “go with the flow.” It eventually grew to become more serious and obviously I had huge passion for it. We’d been in it for so long so why would we ever want to be stop? And so she’s always been there to encourage me and support me. I’m thankful for that.
As an adoptee, could you provide some insight into your connection with your Asian heritage?
I'm not super involved with my culture, so while I think it'd be great to dive deeper into my heritage, that’s just how I was raised. I myself am a lot different from other Asians because of my upbringing, so my identity as an Asian American wasn’t my defining factor. This didn’t affect me because it wasn’t what defined me. But since there wasn’t a whole lot of my culture introduced to me when I was younger, it didn’t totally stick, so I don’t feel that sort of disconnect.
Do you think your background affected your personal definition of the term "Asian American?"
In my own opinion, sometimes I feel like I don’t fit in, and part of that is because I can’t relate to most people within the Asian community. Because I didn’t grow up in that kind of household, I would say that the idea of an Asian American feels almost unfamiliar. It is not what I feel like I am.
In terms of the big picture of being Asian American, I probably wouldn’t think of myself, off the top of my head. That doesn’t discourage me from being an Asian American, according to my own terms. My background has shaped me into the person I am today.
You had to retire because you tore your ACL, but do you still keep in touch with gymnastics?
I tore my ACL, which is the stabilizing ligament in my knee. It was a huge injury to come back from and it took nine months. Now, I’m medically retired, but I've still kept up with gymnastics.
I'm still fairly close with everyone on the team. I also carry a close connection with our coaches, trying to stay as involved as I can. This past year, it's been rough with my own schedule, but I do try to keep in touch with everything [as a team manager].
And then, I like watching college gymnastics, which is super fascinating. I want to keep in touch with the sport, and I think it’ll always be a part of me as it defined who I am.
I know your decision to major in Biomedical Engineering was partially rooted in your passion for gymnastics. Could you provide some more insight into this connection?
At face value, gymnastics and biomedical engineering don’t match well. But I’ve always really liked math and science as they’ve been a stronger suit of mine. I tried Chemical Engineering for a bit - kind of jumping around from major to majoruntil I came across Biomedical. I was able to see the overlap of applied engineering principles to the body and how I could use what I’ve learned from engineering within the field of medicine.
Although both are intertwined for you, do you feel just as strongly passionate about biomedical engineering as you do for gymnastics?
I think I’ve become a lot more passionate about biomedical engineering. Obviously, it’s not gymnastics, and the two are very hard things to balance with each other.
But this past year, I don’t know what I would’ve done if I was as involved with gymnastics as I was in the past. By medically retiring, I’ve been given the opportunity to explore more within my academics while finding what I want to do within biomedical engineering.
I’ve met a lot of new people, and I’ve really gotten into my major. I have a huge passion for it. The two are both very different things, but I’m excited for what’s to come and the opportunities that come with it. Do you feel that gymnastics has prepared you for the busy schedule that you have as an Engineering major?
I think yeah, for sure! With gymnastics, it took up a lot of my time, being a part of it all throughout my life. I had to be fairly proactive with things like time management and in a way, it’s shaped me into the person I’ve become today. Gymnastics has given me a lot of traits to succeed within biomedical engineering. And while I get it’s a tough schedule to work with, I think for sure that my background in terms of balancing time and disciplining myself has made navigating my degree much easier.
I'm a competitive person. And I definitely think that gymnastics has led me to put on those really high standards for myself. I expect a lot of myself, and sometimes it’s too much since I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I wanted to note that my injury made me realize that, "Oh, maybe I’m doing too much," as I had a lot of stress building up on me. I wanted to do well.
For me, it's being able to have a continuous, natural drive that makes you want to pursue something - despite the bumps and rocks in the road. With gymnastics, it’s not an easy sport whatsoever. And a lot of the time, you lose the love for it because the stress is a lot more prominent than the passion.
But somehow, pushing gymnastics to the side has given me the opportunity to be more outgoing, as I explore the academic side of my retirement.
But I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have the passion, and I couldn’t continue without it. Of course, there're other factors that can motivate you, but if you don’t have a passion for something, it’s hard to maintain success. I think it’s so rewarding when you have a passion for something, especially when you are able to accomplish big things.
Sydney Wong is a 3rd-year Psychology major on the Pre-Med track at the University of Oklahoma. After competing as a figure skater for 15 years, she's now finding her balance between her work and her passions.
interview by Anthony Nguyen photography by Emma Nguyen
When I was young, my parents were basically like, “Do you want to do a physical activity?” So my sister and I, we decided to get into ballet. We did it for about a year, but we didn’t like it that much because the environment was a bit toxic.
Then, we stopped. Later, my sister started figure skating. Ballet was somewhat translated to figure skating because both are related to dance. At first, I didn’t join her because I was actually scared to go on the ice. But maybe a couple months after she started, she had a lot of fun playing tag on ice and making a bunch of friends, so I decided to try it out. And after a few lessons, I fell in love with the sport.
You mentioned that you started figure skating when you were five. Do you remember anything from back then?
sister and I would just play, like all the time. We would make snowballs with the ice and play tag with all the other kids. I think that was a pretty big reason why I kept skating all the time, especially when I was young since I just liked playing a lot on the ice.
You started off with figure skating as a means of physical activity and as a hobby. How did you transition to competitive figure skating?
I feel like that's just what happens when you're doing it so much. You start becoming more passionate about it. And then obviously, I started getting into competitive figure skating. My first competition was actually at the Blazers ice rink in OKC. When you do well in the competition, it ramps up and you keep wanting to do more. You just keep building your skill and you just keep going.
There’s this thing called group lessons. And you would basically have one main coach, and you would learn in a small group of people. That’s how you start off, and then you go through each level. But after those lessons, there’s free time where you’re supposed to practice, but my
It was different compared to when I was younger to when I was older. When I was younger, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, there would be the group sessions that I was talking about earlier. You’d go to those sessions, have lessons with the coaches then practice by yourself afterward. Tuesday evenings after school, I would go to the rink, but on Saturdays, it would be in the morning.
It was different compared to when I was younger to when I was older. When I was younger, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, there would be the group sessions that I was talking about earlier. You’d go to those sessions, have lessons with the coaches then practice by yourself afterward. Tuesday evenings after school, I would go to the rink, but on Saturdays, it would be in the morning.
This is kind of funny, but back then, I really liked Winx Club, but my figure skating lessons would be during the time that Winx Club aired on Saturdays. So my dad would always record it on the cassette tape, and after my sister and I went to our skating lessons, we’d come back and watch that episode of Winx Club together.
But that was when I was young, so it wasn’t too rigorous. When I grew up, that’s when school started to get heavier, so I’d skate before school and sometimes after school, depending on the day. Sometimes back in high school, I would wake up at 4:30 in the morning just to go skate. Even though it sounds kind of rough, once you’re up and you get moving, it becomes routine. On the other days, I’d go to school, but I would have my ice skating clothes in my car. Afterwards, I’d drive to the ice rink and skate for a couple hours, have a lesson, and just practice after that.
How was competing like for you?
that they’re judging you based on that one day. I definitely felt really nervous in the days before I would compete, but I would practice so much that it became routine. To a point like, even if you slip up a bit, it doesn’t affect you too much.
Figure skating is a unique type of competitive sport in a way that you’re just competing against yourself. Does that create a different type of competitive mindset for you?
It definitely does, because when I was young, I felt like I improved really fast and all of a sudden, I reached a plateau. Then, improve really fast again, before plateauing again.
I don’t know because academics is a very different thing. Growing up in an Asian household, academics are very heavily prioritized by my family. So no matter what, academics would always be placed on a pedestal.
With academics for the longest time, I felt like I had to do well on every single thing. With ice skating, I felt the same way for some time, but it wasn’t as much of a detriment to my mental health. Especially in college, I feel like I focus on academics a lot, but I wish I could have relaxed a bit more and just taken a breather sometimes.
You’ve told me that you had to “quit” figure skating because of college. What, in particular, do you miss about it?
I think that happens in a lot of athletic careers, but when I was in that plateau era, I felt like I wasn’t that good of a skater anymore. But I shouldn’t base my self-worth based on how much I’m improving. As long as you’re putting your best effort into it and trying to gradually improve, I feel like that’s good enough. Does that type of mindset affect other aspects of your life, like school and academics?
I think it’s the adrenaline that I get when I’m skating, as well as being able to have this skill that I’ve developed over so many years. And all of a sudden, it’s not there anymore. I felt empty inside, and a lot of people have asked me, “Why do I not go back and start skating again?” I really want to, but it takes a lot of time, especially since the rink is 30 minutes away. It’s not as convenient.
In college, like I said, academics are still important, as well as focusing on my career.
Being a premed student now, when I’m skating, I’m like “Oh wait, I should probably be studying for the MCAT or getting a medical assistant job” or something like that. Isn’t that kind of sad? It’s just that feeling of how I should be doing something that benefits my academic career instead of something else that I enjoy, but I feel like I should try to change that mindset.
As a premed student, you have a lot of things on your plate. What are your thoughts on balancing work/school and your passions?
I’m still wondering about that today. Because, for example, I was really passionate about figure skating back then, but I had to put aside those passions for academics, basically. A lot of people just say, “Oh, just manage your time” or “Just make a schedule.” But both of those things take a lot of time, so I can’t just make an hour here for this and another hour there for that.
Passion, I feel like it has a different definition for everyone. But for me, it’s fully involving yourself in something. So it’s just really immersing yourself into something you really like. Taking your whole time and effort to be willing to put yourself into it.
But I know when people have to put aside their passions for school or other reasons, it’s sad. Like, for example, my older sister. She’s really passionate about art, but she doesn’t want to go into art as a career. She feels that if she’s doing it as a career, then she won’t like it as much anymore because she is constantly doing it for monetary gain as a job.
But I’m still trying to discover that answer for myself right now. How to balance everything together. Have you heard of that thing that’s like, “Social Life, Good Grades, Sleep: Pick Two?” It’s something like that.
If you do something so often, sometimes you start losing your love for it depending on the situation. But then, I’m not so sure if that means that she’s just not as passionate, you know? Because people are like, “If you’re passionate about something, you’ll keep on doing it, no matter what.” But I feel like I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that. Because I would say I was pretty passionate about figure skating, and I’m still pretty sad that I’m not able to continue to do it as consistently. It’s not that I’m not as passionate about it anymore, but life happens.
Janice Koo is a 1st-year Pre-Nursing major at the University of Oklahoma. As the keyboardist / vocalist of her band Wet Muscles, she hopes to get their upcoming debut album stuck in your head.
interview by Anthony Nguyen and Emma Nguyen photography by Emma Nguyen
How did you get into music?
My parents enrolled me in piano lessons when I was young and encouraged me to be musical. I played piano on and off for a long time, since I was six. That’s the instrument I’m the most comfortable playing. I started off classical, but like a lot of other people who play piano, it wasn’t my favorite thing to play.
My dad also plays the guitar and drums, so he would teach me here and there. I was also really into jazz at one point, and I would just hop around to different genres.
Did your parents push you toward classical music, or was it something that you wanted to do?
They definitely pushed me to do classical music. It was mostly my mom, but they’ve loosened up whenever I got older and fell in love with my own interests in music. And they’ve been really supportive, like no matter what, so I’m really happy for that.
Considering your classical music background, how did that transition to Wet Muscles’ indierock/indie-pop genre?
It has to do with the music I listened to. I think when indie music started becoming popular, I only listened to indie music. My friend Liam has been making music long before I joined the band, and so I would listen to his stuff and he’d ask me and the other bandmates – before we were a band – if this sounded good, or what he should do for this part for songs he was working on. Also, whenever we would have our jam sessions together, we’d play indiestyle music, so I think that’s how I started to play more in that genre.
Like I said, we would have jam sessions whenever we hung out. All of us were musically inclined, so it worked out because everyone played something different that could be put together. We would just play whatever, and we liked a lot of the stuff that we made. And so, we decided to actually become a band and make music together.
I always have a good time whenever I’m hanging out with them, whether we’re making music or not. We just mess around half the time, which is why we never have the most productive rehearsals or recording sessions. But from messing around, I feel like we get a lot of new ideas. They’re just funny people all around.
And we really didn’t have to think about the band name, since Wet Muscles – the bad band name that started off as an inside joke – is now our actual band name. That’s how we came to be, just through our jam sessions together.
the band local within Norman?
Was that always in the cards?
I originally wanted to go out-of-state. But I thought about it and it just makes more sense to stay here close to my family, because I would get homesick for sure. Then I found out that my other bandmates were going to OU, which also played a part in staying here. Just like, “They’re staying so why not stay also and continue making music with them.” That would be something that I would miss if I went out-of-state.
Wet Muscles (L-R):
Liam Hosty, Ryan Hesselroth, Janice Koo, Aiden Wilson
Can you tell me about some of the highlights (and the lowlights) of being in a band with some of the people that you’re the closest to?
It’s easy for us to sit down and make music, because we’re all very comfortable with each other already. And I like getting to experience big milestones with them. We got to perform for Norman Music Festival last year, and that was really exciting.
But some of the difficulties that we faced is also because of how close we are. Sometimes, we let little struggles affect our personal relationships with each other whenever we’re trying to make music. But honestly, there’s not anything bad to say about my experiences with them. Everything has been running pretty smoothly, which I’m really thankful for.
How did your parents react when you told them that you were part of a band?
But yeah, they were just really surprised, like “You’re in a band? I didn’t hear anything about you wanting to be a part of a band.” To them, it just kind of happened. They didn’t know about the jam sessions that we’d have whenever we’d hang out.
They were honestly happy for me because they knew that music was something I was really passionate about. They were like, “Oh, this would be a good way to let your creative ideas flow, and to do that with your friends who are like-minded.”
I remember them coming out to the Norman Music Festival Soundcheck Series because that’s what we were really excited about. They even brought some of their friends, and it was really funny seeing them there. But it was heartwarming to see them come out.
I know Wet Muscles was formed during the pandemic. Now that you can perform in-person more often, how do you feel when you’re able to perform live as a band?
I think rather than being concerned, they were more surprised. They’re never discouraging about anything, which I’m thankful for.
Whenever we were starting out (and honestly, I still do), I had stage fright, but I have definitely grown comfortable with playing in front of a crowd.
Looking back at our first show, I think we know how to work the crowd a little bit now. Not to just go out there and play music, but interacting with people and matching their vibe as well. Now, I look forward to performing because I really like seeing people out there listening to our music, dancing to our music, and just having fun.
After listening to your first major project Selling Sunflowers and your most recent single Midsummers, I’ve noticed a bit of musical evolution. Could you provide us with some insight into the ways that Wet Muscles approached both of these projects?
Starting out, we were all newbies to being in a band and making music with a group of people. I definitely think it evolved because we started asking for everyone else’s input on “What should we do for this part of the song?” or “Should we add anything here or take something out?” Because of all our different opinions, we were able to come together and make a unique sound.
We sometimes listen back to our first demos, and it’s really different from how we play now. Like today, Liam sent a demo for Midsummers that he made, and it sounds like a completely different song. We just go with the flow and add things that we think would sound good.
We ended up changing the lyrics and switching the composition of the song from our unique viewpoints on how we should approach something musically, and that’s how I saw it evolve.
Would there also be a “different stages of life” aspect? One year is a lot of time, especially for music.
I think a lot of the things that influence the lyrics are our personal experiences that we’ve had. We like to base the vibe of the song around a specific memory that we’ve had together, or something that we’ve experienced on our own. We like to convey that through our musicality and our lyrics, so I think that’s a big part of how music has evolved as well.
A major theme in your music is this “Coming of Age” process, especially because your lyrics are based on your personal experiences. Now, most of Wet Muscles are at OU. With college being this big place of “coming of age,” how has OU influenced the direction that you’re taking with your upcoming debut album?
A lot of the songs that we want to put out in the album, we made before coming to college.
So I guess, by adding things and tweaking bits based on our experiences at OU and this new environment, it’s changed the direction that we want to take the music. We incorporated a lot of our new experiences that we’ve had coming into college and different inspirations that we have now, in order to make something that’s like a soundtrack to our college years.
Do you have any plans to pursue a solo project?
As a band, we have our own sound, but I’ve also been leaning toward different sounds for personal things that don’t fit with the band’s aesthetic. I have been working on some stuff, but we’ll see if it makes it out to the public.
Without passion, I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now. Having a purpose for doing things and having something that you really care about, it adds to you as a person and helps you grow. And obviously, if you’re doing things that you enjoy, it’ll make you happy. So yeah, without passion, I wouldn’t have the drive to do many of the things that I’m doing now. Personally, I think life would be just really empty if you weren’t passionate.
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