By Caroline Mora
“I tend to find beauty in a lot of things in the world, and it inspires me to take pictures of things. The beauty of the sunsets. The beauty of making cookies. It’s all very beautiful to me.”
Junior Stephanie Nguyen can find beauty in the mundane, whether through capturing still-life photos of fruit or taking candids of the people around her. Nguyen simply enjoys observing life through a lens.
Passionate about her faith, Nguyen listens to Christian rap and R&B, letting the music move and inspire her to be a good person.
“I love Christian rap because I think it’s a cool way to feel uplifted while listening to lyrics that praise rap,” Nguyen said. “I don’t like contemporary church music and I think these two genres are a way for me to praise God without feeling like it’s parroting the same thing over and over again.”
Nguyen joined Baron Banner to get journalism experience and to practice her photography in a more professional setting. She is interested in pursuing investigative journalism as her career after high school, and she is excited to start writing.
One of her favorite hobbies, however, is upcycling. Nguyen likes to spend her time in thrift stores, searching for hidden gems and pieces she could upcycle.
“I love upcycling because it’s easy to customize my clothes, and I often have a hard time trying to find pieces that I’m looking for [in department stores],” Nguyen said.
She’ll find different fabrics and patterns she likes and cut, sew and stitch them to create new, unique pieces.
When she’s not taking photos or upcycling, Nguyen might be sitting behind her computer taking BuzzFeed quizzes to determine which mythological creature she is. Currently, she’s giving mermaid vibes, but maybe she’ll give vampire tomorrow!