Interviewer: Brandyn Huynh
Based on your weekly agendas, I know that you’re super into knitting and other arts and crafts. What got you into knitting in the first place?
“Well, my maternal grandmother knits a lot, and my paternal grandmother crochets a lot. So, when I was a kid, they both taught me how to do that. I’ve been knitting and crocheting since I was about six years old and have been doing it for a really long time. It’s something that’s helped with my anxiety in high school which was pretty hard to deal with. I started bringing my knitting with me to pretty much every class and did a lot of origami as well. It helped me center myself, and there’s also something kind of wonderful about producing something. It’s hard to feel existential dread when you’re like ‘Hey, I just made a sock.’”
What is a dream or ambition you had that has stuck with you for most of your life?
“I really like making other people happy; I’m at my happiest when I do something that someone else didn’t expect. My goal in life is to always keep building that sense of community. A couple of years ago, I spontaneously decided to do the Vasona Festival of Lights. I’ve been thinking about this year since we’re in a pandemic and things are a little different, but there’s one year where I just pulled up a bunch of friends and I was like, ‘Hey, meet me at my house in thirty minutes, it’s a surprise’. Everyone was like, ‘I have no idea what’s happening, but I’ll come over.’ I packed up a bunch of cookies I made, made a giant thermos full of pocket-sized gogo, packet everyone into my car, and we just went for a drive. It was just this simple little thing, you know, it’s not like the Vasona Festival of Lights is new to most of us. It’s not some incredible thing, but it was all of us hanging out together and it was joyful. For me, I’m always seeking that connection—that joy of surprising someone else with something that’s not a big deal but, at the same time, it’s happiness.”
What mythical creature do you resonate with the most? Why?
Mythical creatures… I resonate with a lot of them for many reasons. I was a classic studies major, so my options are very limitless. I did a year of Latin all of this stuff, so I know too many mythical creatures. I would have to go with a sphinx.
What is your favorite novel of all time? Why?
“I’ll go with ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’ by Baroness Orczy. I think it was my first introduction to historical fiction because it’s set during the French Revolution. I think that the romance written through that novel is kind of unique since the two main characters are already married, but despite their many years of marriage, they don’t really know each other. They’re both spying and doing subterfuge, and so as they get to know each other’s true selves at the end of the novel, I find that to be really lovely. It has an optimistic ending and I’m always a sucker for happy endings.”
If you could pick three songs to listen to for the rest of your life, which songs would you choose?
If I could listen to three for the rest of my life, I would choose ‘Look into the Mirror’ by Johnny Clegg, ‘El Paso’ by Marty Robbins, and ‘Bite’ by Troye Sivan. I have a ridiculous list of songs that don’t belong together and need to develop some kind of cohesive music taste. Of my three songs, you have some South African rhythm stuff, country, and then Troye Sivan. So literally, none of these go together. If you listen to my Spotify 2020 playlist, it’s bewildering because it has Adam Lambert, Dolly Parton, Beyonce, Simon & Garfunkel, Panic at the Disco, George Strait, Waylon Jennings, Lana Del Rey, and much more. None of these artists could be categorized.
If you had your last hour on Earth, what would you spend doing with it?
“If I had my last hour on Earth, I’d spend it with my loved ones and family.”
