From the classrooms to the theater stage, senior Long Nguyen sets his goal to be a better version of himself this year by focusing all his effort in everything he does.

Nguyen starts off the year with his senior speech with his name as the inspiration. Long in Vietnamese means dragon which represents power and intelligence. However, due to the language barrier, the way to pronounce his name change the meaning from a mighty dragon into the adjective “long” in English.

“The experience I had with my name was one of the first and the most persisting in Darlington,” Nguyen said. “It’s always been a good conversation topic with other people so I thought why not? Also I think my experience around Long as a name is a good segway into the more serious message that I tried to get across: cultural differences at Darlington and the importance of staying true to yourself.”

Nguyen looks forward to all experiences of his senior year which motivate him to get involved in more activities rather than just focus on studying.

“Well I’m spending a lot more time on my health, my social life, my hobbies, etc. rather than solely prioritizing academics like I had been, and I want to stay this way because it’s made me so much happier, and the memories I’ve made with my friends just from this first month alone is amazing,” Nguyen said. “ As to classes, I’m enjoying the ones that I’m taking. Since I ended up with only one free period, which is very weird for a senior, I really don’t have a lot of free time anymore, but it’s nothing unmanageable, and it’ll get better once college applications are out of the way.”

He believes his best memories were made with his friends, and he will treasure every moment when he graduates.

“I’ve had such a ride at Darlington! I wouldn’t trade the connections and the memories I’ve made for anything,” Nguyen said. “ Here are a few of my favorite memories with my friends: late night karaoke with Fifi, Roger, Amy, and Trang; being ride buddies with Caroline in Disney World; the formation of Neal and the Boys; thrift-shopping in Atlanta with David. Everything from theatre, to the Lip-Sync performances, to the late night talks with friends in the dorms and just really the moments when I connect with people.”

Thinking of the past three years at Darlington, Nguyen would like to come back in time and change one thing.

“I were to change anything, it’d be to get involved and started being more open sooner. Who knows what other friends I would have made or what memories we would have created together,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen’s involvement in theater  not only provided him a lot of amazing experiences, but also introduced theater director, Shelley Daniel, as his role model.

“ I have a mountain of respect for her [Shelley Daniel] and doing theater with her has been such an inspiration,” Nguyen said. “ Her work ethic is out of this world! She’s not afraid to take on even the smallest of task and does everything so perfectly. I hope I would love whatever I end up doing in life as much as she loves theatre.”

Although parting from Darlington may be hard, Nguyen is ready to overcome any obstacles ahead and open up a new chapter in his life.

“It scares me because it’s an end. But it’s also exciting because it’s a beginning. I don’t think about things that far ahead so I don’t really know how I truly feel until it hits me,” Nguyen said. “An advice would be take everything with a grain of salt, even yourself.”