Fashion and Beauty (of course!)
My love of beauty and finding my personal style started with my mom. When I was born, she was so excited to have a little girl that she would have lots of photoshoots of me wearing various baby outfits that she bought. I didn’t always like it as a small child, but I started to appreciate it when I got to middle school and developed an interest in clothing as a means of self-expression. Makeup became another accessory in my wardrobe when I got to high school. I would wake up hours before I had to go on the bus so I could experiment with different colors of eyeliner and eyeshadow and show off my makeup looks at school. My personal style truly flourished in college when my creativity was no longer restricted by any school dress codes. Now, I want to help other people find their personal style!
Singing and Music
I’ve loved singing as far back as a can remember, and I wanted to do it for a living when I grew up. When I was five years old, my mom took me to The Children’s Place and another customer saw me singing into a hairbrush. When she asked me, “Oh, you have a such a good voice! Do you want to be a singer when you grow up?” I looked her in the eye and said,
“NO. I wanna be a star.”
Since then, I’ve never failed to get attention for my voice, whether from a performance at an open mic or just talking too loudly (oops!). I’ve never taken voice lessons, but I’ve sung almost every day of my life. I would practice by listening to some of my favorite songs and trying to glean a new skill from each one. I learned how to belt from Katy Perry’s “Firework”, Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” taught me about vibrato, and I learned how to execute runs from practicing Sam Tsui’s “Wherever You Are.” Today, one of my major vocal inspirations is Ariana Grande. I love her entire discography and her vocal techniques.
I also love singing tracks from musical theater. One of my favorite shows right now is Beetlejuice! It’s such a fun cast album!
Video games
I’ve been playing video games since I could hold a controller, and I’m a Nintendo girl through and through. It started with a GameCube that I shared with my brothers and a Gameboy Advance SP, and now I have my own modded Wii console that I use as an emulator. I’ve played all types of games from Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and Pokémon, but my favorite game of all time is the original Paper Mario for the N64.
Cycling through hobbies
Throughout my life I’ve cycled through many other hobbies, so I’ve picked up a random assortment of skills along the way. Here are a few of them:
Jewelry-making: I sculpted figurines out of polymer clay, then attached them to necklaces, keychains, and earrings. I also wove friendship bracelets with embroidery floss.
Glow Poi: Originating from Māori culture, poi is a performance art consisting of swinging weights attached to tethers in a rhythmic motion. I learned a modern variation of it, which is meant to be performed in a dark room using LED spheres attached to ropes. you can learn more about the different types of poi here.