By Elyssa Phan, Staff writer
“I’ve always enjoyed writing ever since first grade,” junior Lauren Nguyen, staff writer of Baron Banner, explains with a smile as to she’s sitting at a desk in room 306 at 6:07 a.m. in the morning.
Although seemingly soft spoken at the glance of an eye, Nguyen would describe herself as quite adventurous. She has a solid plan of going skydiving at exactly 45 years old. Among her list are also parasailing and jet skiing. Kind and patient, Lauren spends her free time playing the piano, listening to nice lo-fi music, journaling, collecting stationary goods and reading.
“I love to read, like fiction books and cheesy books… I really like cheesy books… I also like classics too, like Anna Karenina,” said Nguyen.
Being a big literature fan, it’s no surprise Nguyen decided to join the newspaper team at school. Moreover, it was also Nguyen’s dad, a fellow journalist in his high school newspaper, who inspired her to join Baron Banner.
“I was inspired by my dad [to join Baron Banner] because before, he would always tell me about how he was also involved in the newspaper when he was in high school in Vietnam, and so that was kind of inspiration,” said Nguyen.
However, that wasn’t the only reason she decided to join the newspaper team here at Fountain Valley High School.
“I also wanted to do it before he ever told me that because, you know how you read in books, like in Dork Diaries and stuff, a lot of people join newspapers in their school?” said Nguyen. “That’s just something I wanted to be a part of and also to be able to report on other things that people don’t really notice and that’s also really special. I just want to get more involved in school too so that was a big part of the reason why.”
Going into only her second year in Baron Banner, Nguyen has already shown great talent as a student journalist. Writing about 18 articles last year, her works range from sports to guides to graduation awards.
“Last year, I was one of the winners of the Huntington Beach High Union School District staff appreciation essay contest, and so I wrote about the custodian staff in our school and how grateful I was for their work, and in return I was one of the three winners to receive a free Chromebook,” said Nguyen.
Nonetheless, she doesn’t want to simply stop there. With a goal to get into UCLA, Nguyen has got big plans ahead of her.
“I hope to win a more significant award at OCJEA this year and just improve my skills in writing and journalism in general actually,” said Nguyen.