A conversation with junior Olympic athlete and student organizer Nora Wang on celebrating diversity & student voices
(Photos courtesy of Amelia Pinto)
After seeing a need in her community, Nora Wang, a junior Olympic athlete and student organizer, reflects on building spaces for and by students of colour, how Olympic fencing helps with her advocacy, and advice for young student organizers.
I first met Nora in our first week of high school when she joined the speech and debate team. In a sport that is dominated by whiteness and patriarchy, we found community with each other and our shared Asian identities. As the next few years unfolded, and especially in light of the anti-racism movement in education, we wanted to make our school more celebratory of diversity. Nora has always inspired me with her vivid and rich writing. I knew she was the person I wanted to work with to launch a literary magazine, called “The Visionary,” all about culture and family.
In early 2023, we hosted an event called the “Cultural Celebration,” inspired by elementary school students who asked for an opportunity to showcase their traditional clothing and share a meal. At the event, a group of students and staff performed poems about their homeland, family, and identity. Creative safe spaces like this, where staff and students share their work in solidarity and community are what makes Nora’s vision so powerful. It’s what we need to continue strengthening our community and celebrating our intersectionality.
Unfortunately, despite all the encouraging comments and feedback, school leaders refused to acknowledge the students’ work and commitment. In what was a frustrating and discouraging response, Nora navigated with grace and empowerment. She reminded us that we had created something beautiful for young students and for our younger selves. Despite learning firsthand the resistance young people face when speaking up as a minority in a community, Nora remained unphased. She is unapologetically for herself and committed to the needs of young people around her.
As a junior Olympic-winning athlete and world champion fencer, Nora is familiar with resiliency and uses her background as a tool for her student advocacy.
“Fencing was such a wonderful success for me,” she said. “Even when I failed, it was a triumph in itself to participate in a sport for the sake of my own enjoyment. It is also a triumph to participate in a traditionally masculine and white-dominated sport as a woman of color, and consider it a safe space for me growing up.”
Nora immediately comes to mind when I think about inspiring young women in my life. I sat down with her before we left for our respective colleges to share a final moment of reflection on the past few years of advocating for community, untold narratives, and amplifying student voices.
Amelia Pinto: What stories did you look for when creating The Visionary literary magazine? Can you tell us about a particular piece or story that touched you?
Nora Wang: The stories I looked for personally were stories about family. I loved getting a chance to tell their stories. It helped me feel closer to the members of my family who are very quiet about their past and their feelings. Writing about my grandmother is my favorite topic — both my grandmothers really. Partially, because I know how when they were my age, how few people cared to hear their stories and how few people ever will if I never write about them. I think about the rural farm girl who was top of her class and the bank worker who dreamed of running a business in the United States.
My grandmothers are both utter bosses and were the women who raised me while my parents worked. They defined womanhood, my culture, and what it means to break generational cycles. They both left behind everything they knew to come to America and they learned technical skills and made careers out of nothing. I want people to hear about them both because they’re my favorite people of all time, but also because, to me, they represent triumph and people deserve to see triumph.
“Writing like this is very powerful for students and communities of color because nobody tells our stories, but us. Communities of color need to look out for each other.”
I find that I love a lot of pieces that carry similar themes to identity and family. There’s a particular piece I love that was written by a student for The Cultural Celebration. There is a specific line he wrote that I feel like I think about all the time:
“They see my lack of defiance as an act of compliance. But like a canary in a coal mine, there’s a reason for my silence.”
A canary in a coal mine is an early indication of danger or failure. In a way, I think that is what we are, a warning of institutional failure. Students and activists like us draw attention to systemic issues and spark change. When we notice an impending collapse we soar through the caves and let everyone know.
AP: Let’s talk about identity! We go to a very small, predominantly white school. Do you feel like there is space for your identity here and, if not, how do you make that space?
NW: I think being in a space that might not feel like it’s for you — or even has the intention of keeping you out of it — just entering that space and being willing to be yourself is carving and clawing out area for you. And even if they don’t create the space to celebrate you, celebrate yourself. I didn’t always feel as though there was a space for me at my school, but even the smallest steps like a silly little only-Asians group chat have helped make a place where I can feel appreciated.
(Photos courtesy of Amelia Pinto)
AP: Why is this type of writing so powerful for our communities?
NW: For the Chinese community, poetry is a very respected art. Art is a big part of the culture; writing and language in particular. It’s a culture with a long history. Even though my Chinese isn’t perfect, I like to be able to say that I carry on the nature of that art and carry respect for creative outlets.
Writing like this is very powerful for students and communities of color because nobody tells our stories, but us. Communities of color need to look out for each other.
AP: So many community members were touched by The Cultural Celebration we organized. What impact, if any, did you see come from this and what did the event mean to you?
NW: Personally, it was important to me to talk about my heritage and culture more openly. To be able to reflect on it, enjoy it and share that with others. I spent a lot of my formative years trying to hide it. It also ended up being meaningful for me because my mom was present and being that vulnerability with her was something I was nervous about.
I also enjoyed seeing the school administration’s perspective of the event and us as students change. Even though it was a bit hypocritical, it was nice to see them turn around from “I don’t know about this” to “we should do this all the time!” There were also a lot of elementary school students and their families that attended. Learning tolerance, being a part of a community and seeing yourself reflected in that community are so important at that age.
When there are so many spaces we’ll feel isolated from in life, just having something that’s for us is so crucial. It was really meaningful to be able to band together and rally around a cause we cared about. It brought me further into the community and it brought the community itself closer together.
“Your stories and all your experiences will always be valuable. Just look for it and I’m sure you’ll find it — it might take some time and some effort but it will always be possible. Somebody is just waiting for you and your words.”
AP: What would you tell other young people, especially those with underrepresented identities, who want to become more engaged in their communities?
NW: Don’t stop pushing for the community. Even if you feel your perspective is not unique or you feel like your cultural ties are weak, that’s still a part of you that can never be removed. Your stories and all your experiences will always be valuable. Just look for it and I’m sure you’ll find it — it might take some time and some effort but it will always be possible. Somebody is just waiting for you and your words.
(Photos courtesy of Amelia Pinto)
AP: It’s not easy to amplify student voices in schools. How can learning environments and administrators do this better?
NW: Care about your students. So many institutions seek to silence their students. Our high school in particular had a pretty bad habit of tokenizing us. We could only do activities they thought were marketable - like open houses, tours, and fundraisers for the school. The literary magazine and Cultural Celebration were things we wanted to do for ourselves. When we were planning The Cultural Celebration we heard a staff member say it was “reverse racist” that it was entirely led and performed by students of color. Please listen to your students and don’t dismiss their experiences and insights. Students also listen. They see and observe all the time. Every institution will have its own issues but nobody can point out institutional flaws better than the people who have to deal with them.
AP: You inspire me so much. Who are some people who inspire you?
NW: I take a lot of inspiration from my friends and family. I find them all endlessly wonderful. I have a lot of love for my fencing coach — he’s a wonky guy but he fought for his space too, and now he is an immigrant who has, intentionally or not, fostered a community full of immigrants and their children. I love Ibtihaj Muhammad who is an Olympic fencer and also a brilliant showcase of how simply existing in a space and being yourself can open doors. I am always aspiring to emulate my former history and debate teacher, who never tried to silence anyone. He always said yes to ideas, even if they were sometimes bad. He honored every perspective. There are probably even more brilliant and talented figures that slip my mind at the moment, but all of these people have inspired me in both big and small ways. I think if you look around there is inspiration and representation to be found everywhere in everything.
This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.
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