Rina Huang, Sophomore (Left) - Interview Conducted by Phoebe Shin and Anna Chard
Monday November 2, 2020: It is 12:00 pm - Lunch time! Sunlight is shining through bedrooms all around the zoom screen, and the birds are chirping (we think- we were actually inside so, upon reflection, we have realized that we can’t really attest to that). The mood is light, and the Human of CPS makes small talk as we anticipate the year’s third student interview. I click record. “Welcome, Rina.” The interview has begun…
Phoebe: What is the craziest thing that has ever happened to you?
Rina: That’s hard to say. I would say… okay, so in middle school I went to a dance camp and there were these really heavy bars that you pull out in the center and you had to have 2 people each to hold it, and they told us throughout the entire camp, “Oh, you can’t go under them, don’t go under them, don’t swing under them because they’re really heavy.” And of course, you know, I’m a bit of a rebel, so then I swung under and it fell backwards on my hands, but I ducked out of the way, and it smashed my middle finger. And it’s actually really funny now, because it was broken, and since I had smashed it, it kind of grew that way, so now one of my middle fingers is bigger than the other! Yeah, so that’s always kind of my fun fact.
Phoebe: What did you want to be when you grew up? Has that changed for you?
Rina: I was never one of those astronaut kids, since I was scared of heights, but I remember asking my mom when I was little, “What’s a good job that would get me a steady income?” And she said a doctor, so that’s kind of what I went towards. But as I grew up I kind of went away from math and science, and I went more towards english and history, so now I guess something in politics maybe— a lawyer, a diplomat maybe, I don’t really know right now. I never really had that vet phase, because I didn’t really grow up with animals. I mean, I had a fish, but that didn’t really count, you know?
Anna: So, walk us through a typical Saturday of yours!
Rina: Ooh, okay. So every Saturday I go to SFCM, which is the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, because I play viola. So I guess I’ll go with my pre-Covid schedule— my class this year starts at 10, so I would wake up around 8, leave at 9, get to the conservatory at 10. My first class is my Chamber group, so I have that until 11:30, and then I have lunch from around 11:30 to 12:30. And then from 12:30 to 1:30, I have my Women Composers class, then 2:00-3:15 is my solo lesson, and then from 3:30 to 5:00 is my Theory class, and then I go home! So yeah, it’s like a day of classes.
I have that same schedule now, and I’m at home, but we go every other week, only for Chamber, so I go for Chamber from 10-11ish and then I come back, and do everything else.
Phoebe: Who is the most influential person in your life?
Rina: That’s a hard question… I think I never really wanted to “idolize” one person, because if I found out that they had flaws, I would be just completely destroyed. I guess I take inspiration from a lot of people— I take organizational techniques from my dad, and I take, I don’t know, kindness? from my mom. So I just take these little things from different people to make myself better.
Phoebe: What was one fun or interesting thing that happened over the summer?
Rina: I didn’t really do much this summer… like I really didn’t do anything! I guess.. I met up with two of my friends, you know, socially distanced with masks, and it’s a bit embarrassing, but that was kind of the highlight of my summer? My brother paints, so I took one of his really big canvases, and they brought acrylic paint, and we just each took a corner and painted a bit. And there were these little kids who would come and play in the park, and they would come and paint something small. That’s the only thing I can really remember from this summer.
Anna: What is your favorite dance performance you’ve ever been a part of?
Rina: I’ve been dancing since I was really little, but I did Chinese folk dance for most of my life, with ballet interspersed in between, and I think this was in eighth grade, probably one of the last dances I did before I quit. So I’m not sure how I’m going to explain this, but I had one of these little props, and they were supposed to be representing snowflakes, and I think that dance was really fun. I had to do one of these tricks where you toss it up and do like a back walkover, and then catch it, and throughout all of my rehearsals, I couldn’t get it, even in the dress rehearsal. So I just assumed that I wouldn’t get it, but in the final performance, I got it, and that was really cool! And I think one of the alumni here, Tiffany, who graduated a couple years ago, went to the same dance studio as me, so it was really nice to get to say goodbye to her there.