Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (150)
If I describe to you my life, you’d assume I’m a spy.
After all, I was recruited when I was 11. My assignments require significant travel to infiltrate red carpets and junkets, relaying intel to bosses who sit atop skyscrapers.
Instead of X-Ray sunglasses, I’m equipped with only a mic and a notepad. Like an agent studying files all night, I research assets and brainstorm unique questions.
I work erratic hours and stay calm under pressure. Though I’m not setting traps for villains, I do talk with green monsters like the Hulk, Kermit, and Mike Wazowski. I train intensely as a Maze Runner, study How to Train Your Dragon, and venture Into The Woods. It pays off when I acquire exclusive insight into artists’ lives, revealing facets of depth to the public. I connect with another human and gain invaluable perspective.
Real spy or not--this job is just as cool.
Name your favorite books, authors, films, and/or artists. (50 word limit)
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Atonement
What newspapers, magazines, and/or websites do you enjoy? (50 word limit)
The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, The Atlantic, Teen Vogue, Social Media, YouTube, Podcasts, Spotify
What is the most significant challenge that society faces today? (50 word limit)
“Diversity” in Hollywood currently means black and white. Asian Americans are not given the opportunity to take lead roles. Not only are characters blatantly whitewashed (see: “Great Wall,” “Aloha,” “Ghost in the Shell,”) but the characters that are Asian also perpetuate harmful stereotypes (see: “Pitch Perfect,” “Sixteen Candles,” Oscars 2016). (50)
How did you spend your last two summers? (50 word limit)
Interviewed the casts of Captain America: Civil War, Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World; collaborated in dramaturgical work and the production of my play in Hollywood; conducted man-on-the-street interviews at a Journalism Camp in Minnesota; made lifelong friends at HOBY; wrote two poems a week for Adroit's summer mentorship program.
What were your favorite events (e.g., performances, exhibits, competitions, conferences, etc.) in recent years? (50 word limit)Performances: Kids Choice Awards 2016, We DAY Concert, Wango Tango 2016
Exhibits: Harry Potter exhibit, Disney’s D23 Expo
Competitions: Orange County Regional Youth Poetry Slam Event (2014-2016)
Conferences: HOBY World Leadership Conference in Chicago
Broadway: Wicked, Lion King
Plays: The Blank’s Young Playwrights Festival 2016
What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed? (50 word limit)
I’d like to shadow a hitokiri (man-slayer samurai, a deadly assassin) on both the reformers’ and Shinsengumi’s sides for two days during the Meiji restoration. I’d also like to get Sagara Sozo’s signature before the famous war hero is decapitated by the government. (43)
What five words best describe you? (10 word limit)
Passionate, avid, driven, fangirl, storyteller
Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. (100 to 250 words)
“What scares you?” my playwriting teacher asks on the first day. “If it doesn’t scare you, it’s not worth writing.”
So, as a freshman, I confront my fears--writing about religion, heritage, and adolescence--through theater, embarking on an awfully big adventure. Lights up on a lagoon of news articles and personal histories. I feast on plays, trading in bedtimes for lands between sleep and awake.
Then, I summon the courage to send my plays out to the world with the same daring of J.M. Barrie when he premiered his wild idea on a London stage. The countdown to opening night begins. Professional directors, actors, producers, stage managers breathe in the worlds I built. We have conversations that deeply move me when an actor shares his experience about losing a parent, moments reaffirm me in soul-crushing doubt. This process validates the reason why I write--that my stories may resonate with even one person in the audience.
Cue gasps, wet cheeks, and laughter from a united audience. Whether my plays are performed in a school’s church-turned-theater, a white box in New York, the Stella Adler in Hollywood, or the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, we clap because we believe. After house lights go up, audience members approach me with their life stories in hand, and these are the moments I tear up, marveling at the power of theater, the ultimate act of imagination. And perhaps one day, Peter Pan will drop by the theater balcony to hear the stories I’ll tell. (250)
Virtually all of Stanford's undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate -- and us -- know you better. (100 to 250 words)
When you walk into our room on Move-In day, do not be surprised to see my watercolors of the Avengers displayed on the walls. That collection will probably grow.
I’ll tell you about the day I interviewed Anthony Mackie and took a selfie with Sebastian Stan at the Civil War press conference. Though I’m an adamant Team Cap fan, I’ve discovered that supporters of Team Iron Man have big hearts, biting wit, and the ability to see the good in broken people. So I will love you even if you’re on Stark’s side, but be prepared for attempts at conversion.
I’ve never been to Comic Con but that didn’t stop me from organizing an equally passionate spin-off called Fandom Faire at school. A fair warning: my superhero lifestyle will most likely infiltrate my studies as well. I wrote a cause-and-effect essay about the effects of a post-9/11 world on the superhero movie industry. My statistics project compared my school’s proportion of female moviegoers interested in the superhero genre to the national average. I wrote a play about two geeky roommates who decorated their dorm with superhero posters (sound familiar?) and always tried to out-quote each other.
The passion I have for Marvel reflects equally in my desire to impact the world, so be prepared for late-night conversations exchanging not only our fandoms but also ideas of what needs to change in society. Thank you for embarking on this rollercoaster with me. (245)
What matters to you, and why? (100 to 250 words)
Facebook status posted on 10/7, after outrage over Bruce Lee Biopic:
I don't want to say, here we go again, another abomination against the Asian community. This ends here. Every instance of whitewashing is an atrocity.
When I read that one of our culture's few celebrities in mainstream media was degraded to SIDEKICK in his own biopic, I felt anger. It's bubbling up inside me, not only because of this, but because it's 2016 and yet we have Matt Damon saving China. Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell. Tilda Swinton in Dr. Strange. Nat Wolff in Death Note. The lowest form of journalism--if it can even be called that--perpetuating stereotypes on Fox TV. Now Bruce Lee's own movie was stolen from him.
I could go on and on with the list of blatant racism we've witnessed in the past year alone, but I want to leave you with this: I caught myself wishing that I could grow up a little faster, graduate college sooner, and DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. But why not now? Friends, it's time for us to stand together. For too long our community has been silent, but in this case endurance is not a virtue. Standing up is.
Whether it means creating content that features true diversity, writing about Hollywood's whitewashing… or interviewing Asians who are already standing up for the community, I commit the rest of my life to fighting for Asian American representation.
It starts now.
Edited & condensed for clarity