Sophomore devotes herself to musical and athletic activities

As soon as the bell rings at 9:25 a.m. for an average Friday tutorial, dozens of students rush out of their classrooms, meeting their friends to do homework together or just to hang out. Sophomore Nicole Chiou is not among them. Instead, Chiou goes directly to the music building to practice piano for her after school class.

“Additional practice makes me feel more ready for class, especially if I don’t think I have prepared enough throughout the week,” Chiou said. 

Chiou has played piano since age 5 and cello starting in fourth grade. Chiou said that she started practicing the sport in seventh grade and training on her own.

“When I became good at it, I started to enjoy it a lot,” Chiou said.

Soon after, she joined both the school team and club volleyball. 

To spend the most time possible on music and volleyball, Chiou sets a stringent schedule for herself. For example, almost every day after school, Chiou goes home and immediately starts on her homework, working nonstop for about two hours before she has to leave for evening volleyball practice. 

“I spent a lot of time during the summer in open gyms, practicing volleyball with my dad,” Chiou said. “I guess the work paid off.”

After she comes back home from practice and has a quick 15-minute dinner, she immediately switches gears to practice her two instruments, the piano and cello, for approximately one and a half hours each. This helps her to relax her mind from all the schoolwork that she has to handle throughout the day. 

The rest of the evening is left for any remaining homework, and she usually gets to bed around 11 p.m.

On top of spending all this time on these two activities, Chiou still finds spare time to read, shop and jog.

One of her strategies for maintaining her schedule is working on her schoolwork in small chunks of time—during tutorial, break, or even in the car. 

For example, Chiou is rarely seen chatting with her friends during tutorials, as she is usually working in a classroom or practicing piano in the music building.

“There’s really no way to finish all my homework, attend the events for my activities and go to sleep at a decent hour if I don’t get at least part of it done at school,” Chiou said.

To ensure maximum efficiency at home, Chiou often closes Facebook on her computer and leaves only some music on to fuel her mind. 

“She clearly has her priorities,” said sophomore Michelle Handoko, one of Chiou’s close friends. “She always keeps her goals in mind and stops herself from getting distracted.”

Chiou may not do every single activity offered at the school, but she drives herself to do things with passion and persistence. 

“Although sometimes I feel overwhelmed, I could never see myself quitting any of these activities,” Chiou said. “Keeping up all of them has helped me to have good time management and volleyball keeps me fit.”