By Arden Nguyen
Beneath a quiet exterior, you’ll find an ambitious, friendly and curious individual in senior Katelyn Nguyen.
Joining Baron Banner this year as a staff writer and photographer, Nguyen is hoping to gain more experience with what was initially an occasional hobby. In the past, she would practice photography from time to time, taking photos on family vacations and looking to Pinterest as a source of inspiration for photo ideas.
She first became aware of Baron Banner in her sophomore year but didn’t think of applying until junior year because she wanted to expand her creative abilities.
“I wanted to join Baron Banner because I thought I could learn some interesting skills―writing and photography―and improve in that,” Nguyen said.
Even before entering journalism, she found herself fascinated by people and their stories while studying history, her favorite subject.
“You learn about different stories, and different people―history is a big story, a really long story…There’s a lot of things going on, but I feel like that’s what makes it interesting,” Nguyen said.
At school, she is a member of the California Scholarship Federation and serves as tech chair for Leo Club.
In her free time, she enjoys watching figure skating championships, crime shows like Mindhunter and fashion competitions like Project Runway and The Cut. Besides photography, you can find her baking, painting and listening to music by Lorde and Conan Gray.
Nguyen is still figuring out what she’d like to major in for college but plans on attending a school in the University of California system.
No matter what she decides to do, she will achieve it the same way she has done with everything: with hard work and a firm sense of direction.
“You need to know what you want, what you need to do to get there, how you are going to execute those steps, and always be aware that there will be changes to your plan,” Nguyen said.