Al Lo ’22 received the Princeton in Asia Fellowship this spring, which will take him to Singapore to work in student development at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Lo will be working specifically with performance and visual arts students to help them find how the arts can fit into their future — a journey that Lo went on himself while experimenting with dance and theater at CC.
“I enjoy acting and performing, but helping others and allowing them to shine is what really interests me,” Lo says.
Through his various extracurricular activities — managing the Esports team, working at campus activities, and taking leadership positions in both Dance and Theatre Workshop — Lo has developed a sense for how the entertainment industry works. He hopes his work in Singapore will further build that understanding, so he may potentially pursue Entertainment Law in the future.
Lo, who graduated with a double major in anthropology and theatre and dance, recalls that in his first year at CC, it was Theatre Professor Tom Lindblade (now retired) who inspired him to keep the arts in his life — a responsibility Lo will soon have to his students in Singapore.
“Coming into college, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue doing arts [...] but then I connected with Tom. He invited me out to the old Wooglin’s Deli and basically helped me […] plan out my four years.”
Lo was born in Taiwan but has lived in Colorado for the majority of his life. Growing up, Lo felt the tension of assimilating as an Asian American.
“I think what my mom wanted for my brother and I was to be able to grow into the American culture. While I’m grateful for that, I experienced many hardships and discrimination.”
Lo hopes to gain a lot of personal insight while also contributing to his community while in Singapore. “I want to not only learn more about my own Asian identity, and to learn more about Southeast Asia, but […] I want to be transparent about my experience as an Asian American. For me, it’s like, how do you succeed in America without losing your own racial identity. That’s something I want to share with students in Singapore.”