I created this piece symbolizing various aspects of myself, including interests, my background, and hobbies. I love drawing in my free time to wind down and relax, but have also enjoyed taking sketching classes outside school. I've essentially been an artist since I was born, but more recently, I have picked it up and spent more time learning and improving my skills.
I've always been a musician, playing piano since I was very young, but my love of music truly began to skyrocket I picked up the trumpet, improvising and adding to the pieces I practiced. Later I picked up the French horn and have loved participating in orchestra both in and out of school (Golden State Youth Orchestra - Camerata.) At school, I've loved participating in our Before School Instrumental Group for four years.
However, starting horn didn't mean I stopped with the trumpet. During my 5th and 6th grade years, I had played trumpet in the Keys Music Collective, a student organized and run band. Unfortunately, in my 7th grade year, the teacher who'd supervised us and been exceptionally passionate about KMC left our community. This year, I've helped organize a group of students and brought back KMC and have loved arranging parts for my fellow musicians.
I began martial arts 8 years ago and have loved my journey from white belt all the way to green-stripe (2 ranks away from black.) I attend multiple tournaments every year and especially love sparring. Two years ago, I began training as an assistant instructor and eventually gained my red belt, symbolizing an assistant instructor that could be trusted to lead classes. I love teaching martial arts and teach multiple times a week.
I wanted to further represent my creativity with a die, representing Dungeons and Dragons. I have loved creating and writing custom backstories for characters to play with my friends.
A baguette has sort of become like my trademark. It all began during a history project where each class created a civilization. As the elected leader, I named the civilization "baguettaly" and have been known as the baguette guy ever since. Whenever there would be a event or party, I would bring baguettes to share. I have also adopted a nickname based from this reputation. Jabaguette. It was first just the begining of my name combined with baguette, but I have also noticed more significance in the nickname. First the "jab" part connects with my love of martial arts, but more surprisingly, in Taiwanese, to eat, is "jia" so together, it means "eat baguette."
When I began middle school, as my confidence grew, I discovered my love for speech and debate. I had explored around for a while, trying public forum, speech writing, and parliamentary. Eventually, I discovered Model United Nations. It combined my love of history with both speech and debate and I was instantly hooked. Since then, I've joined the League of Creative Minds, a group that meets weekly to discuss current events, international relations, or historical patterns. I've became like a news reporter for my friends, staying updated with live reports of the world. I hope to contribute my skills at Nueva and have loved Nueva's parliamentary debate summer classes.
This flower is representative of my ancestry and culture. It's a plum blossom, the national flower of Taiwan. Being Taiwanese has certainly had a huge impact on not only how I was raised but also how I think about think about more of the world all together.