Hey everyone! My name is Stephen Nguyen (I typically go by Steph though), I am 22, and I am currently a student at the University of Washington (GO DAWGS!) studying communications and law with a minor in business administration. I have been editing tropes since COVID-19 hit in 2020, as one of my new interests that I discovered since the pandemic (you may find most of my edits through my other account Troper/its_stephprime).
As you can probably tell from my last name, I am of Vietnamese descent, born in Kirkland, Washington, USA from parents who immigrated from Saigon, Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City). What you may not know at first glance is that I am a Christian, being born and raised in a Christ-centered family throughout my life, and baptized at a middle school summer camp on August 3, 2014. Both my cultural heritage and my personal faith have been a staple of my identity as I continue to live my life to the fullest.
Did you (also) know? I am an Instagram foodie. One of my favorite hobbies is taking photos of food and posting them on my food account. You can check it out here: https://www.instagram.com/stephnguyen_eats
.
—
Tropes Associated with Me (and My Life)
- Ascended Extra: Quite a handful of people play a major role in my life the following year after meeting and only interacting with them a few times.
- Big Bad: As a Christian, I see Satan as this — being the source of all evil.
- Berserk Button: My pet peeve is a lack of communication. Especially when it comes to digital messaging.
- Best Friend: My childhood friend since 6th-grade. We met at a lunchroom in middle school, grew closer as he started coming to the church I went to (at the time), and the rest is history.
- Big Little Brother: I think it was 7th-grade when I started towering over my older sister of seven years (and pretty much the rest of my family).
- Character Development: Every human being goes through a change, and yes, I've seen plenty of changes in myself. I'll provide a few examples.
- I used to be a tattletale, and boy did people hate me for it. It's one of my many childhood regrets that I wish I could change back.
- I cared too much about popularity after getting a glimpse of it late in middle school (7th to 8th grade). After experiencing a major loss of identity in my life (losing a school election), I begin to realize how worthless popularity is and that there's so much more to enjoy than recognition.
- And how did I become popular? I ran a middle school ASB election despite the odds against me from my peers and won. However, I only cared about the popularity and very rarely the leadership aspect. It took some hard lessons through a high school ASB advisor for me to finally see what it is really like to be a leader, something I've carried on as I grew older.
- I was pretty vicious at one point, struggling to control my anger. I've slowly become much more calm, erudite, and understanding of others during my college years (it did not come without a My God, What Have I Done? experience that I will not disclose here).
- Decoy Protagonist: Obviously at the start of my life, I believed that this was my story, my life, and my destiny that I am forging. As I grew older and started coming to church, I see my life as more of a part of God's story, and I am just a Deuteragonist playing a supporting role.
- Deuteragonist: My family. I have my parents and my older sister. They are the ones most visible in my life and help guide me to become the person I am today.
- Earn Your Happy Ending:
- Me getting my black belt in Taekwondo. I'll put it this way: I wasn't the best student, I was easily tired during all of my sessions, I had extra practice for my forms, one-step sparring, and self-defenses, and I had to go through three excruciating terms (one taking longer than expected) when I was at the penultimate stage (red-black belt). At one point, my parents and I actually considered quitting due to a lot of money spent and me constantly pushed past my limit. Eventually, I went through more training prior to my belt testing, and passed enough to earn my Black Belt at the special belt ceremony.
- High School. After all 4 years of excruciating midterms, finals, AP Tests, SATs and ACTs, projects, going through blood and sweat on preparing for a national competition, doing running start at the local community college, and of course, HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA, I was so ready to get the heck out of that place after getting my diploma and walking at my graduation ceremony. At least prom was fun, though.
- The Hero: Well...this is my life that I am living but if I'm gonna be honest as a Christ believer, I see this as more of God's story, and I'm one of the many Deuteragonists. That's just how I saw the world in my eyes as I was taught at church.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Oh, I am definitely the Red Oni to a handful of people that I am close to. A few prime examples being my sister and my Best Friend.
- Wham Episode: Few significant moments of my life.
- 2012: My grandmother's death back in 2012. It was the first time I experienced someone close to me passing away. Family gatherings were never the same after that.
- 2014:
- Winning a middle school ASB election for Vice President. The odds were against me, especially since I was bit of a loser in elementary school. Yet somehow, that victory brought in newfound confidence and a new identity in me that I never experienced before.
- Being baptized at a middle school church summer camp in Lake Wenatchee. My public declaration of Christ.
- 2016:
- My diagnosis on the Autism Spectrum.
- Losing a high school ASB election for Vice President. Took me quite a while to recover, but I'll say it's for the best. Especially since I became a much more humble person afterwards.
- 2018: Starting college early through a running start program at the local community college. Needless to say, it kickstarted a journey that's about to air a Season 6.
- 2019: I will not disclose what happened, other than it was a turning point that put me in a position where I discovered more and more of myself. Especially my personal flaws.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Some of the people I used to be close with? I haven't seem them in years. I hope they're doing well.
