“If I had to describe myself in three words, they would probably be ‘bubbly,’ ‘reliable,’ and an ‘ambivert.’
“Coming to Northwood, I think I became more open-minded and adventurous. Back home, I didn’t want to do anything except shopping and going to cafes, but here, I started hiking, and I tried rock climbing. Now I’m super open-minded about trying everything for the first time and seeing how it goes. And skiing too—I tried skiing when I got here and grew to love it so much. I’m super excited for ski season. I’m also more active now; I love going to the gym. Here, surrounded by athletes and coaches, I ended up going to the gym and lifting, and I really enjoy it since it helps with my mental health.
“Dance here is really fun. I always liked dancing, but I never took a serious course in it. When I joined the dance program here, I felt like I had a team, and I made friends, and, of course, I loved dancing as well. I got to experience the more serious side of it, which was really fun. Performing was scary, but then it eventually created more confidence for me. I started doing ballet, which is super technical and hard, so I’m still learning and improving, but I noticed that over my three years here I’ve been getting better at the techniques of ballet.
“My favorite time at Northwood so far was last year, my junior year. I love the springtime, because in the winter I get really gloomy because of the weather, but in the spring, the sun gets out and I’m always just very happy to be outside. My friend group last year, which had Ashley [Guevara ’24], Sophia Miller [‘24], and Avery [Novia ‘24] in it, was tight throughout the year. During spring, they got ready to graduate, and I was really upset but happy for them at the same time. We created so many good memories together, and it was just really fun being with them. We were going outside 24/7, going to town, skating on the oval, things like that. I love the town of Lake Placid. I think I made a lot of good memories there too, and in this room, which was Ashley’s room last year. We spent a lot of time here just hanging out together until 2 am.
“I’m an only child, but I live with my grandparents, so I’d say the family’s five, because we all live together: my parents, my grandparents, and I. Back home, in Ho Chi Minh City [Vietnam], I have long-term friendships; I’ve known all my friends since middle school, so I think I’ve been friends with them for about seven years. We have tight friendships, and we kind of grew up together.
“Coming here and making new friends was overwhelming because I used to be shy and making friends was hard. Also, because I have such tight friendships already, I wasn’t used to making new friends back home and stuck to the same friends every year. At Northwood, it’s totally different. Every year, people leave, and people come, and I learned how to be more social and be more open about making friends and just having fun with people you meet.”
As told to Sasha Luhur ’27. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.