Angela Wu ’19

Angela Wu ’19

Angela Wu ’19 came to HPA from Taipei, Taiwan, as junior and spent two years exploring opportunities for project-based learning. Her senior year schedule included AP studio art, digital cinema, social entrepreneurship, Japanese, and the Food in Literature capstone. She also introduced therapy chickens to the community, using chickens raised in the campus garden as part of her capstone class. As part of her digital cinema coursework, Wu created a series of short films about various members of the HPA campus community. Today she attends the Culinary Institute of American in New York, where she is pursuing another creative passion: pastry!


How did you get involved in making your documentary film shorts?
I took Digital Documentary Film, with Mrs. Lundberg, last year. She’s a mixed media artist, so she really influenced how I approached this project. Video is a way to tell two stories: my story and that of my subject. I really wanted to tell the stories of quiet people, who do normal yet extraordinary things. Social media shows us celebrities, turning people into products for their audience. I wanted to tell authentic stories.

What were the biggest challenges and rewards in making your documentaries?
I really enjoyed meeting people, it’s such an honor to hear their perspective on the world. Sometimes they’ve never told this personal story before. But cooperating with other people is always a bit complicated and sometimes challenging. When you have a camera in your hand, people think they need to be “presentable,” but what I want is something unfiltered, more natural. I really want people to feel it’s okay to be themselves. Always, not just when I’m filming them.

So, this idea of wanting people to be okay being themselves: is that how you introduced the concept of therapy chickens to HPA?
Actually, it began when I founded the Zen Club on campus. I used to be someone who was really stressed out, but then I started meditating. When I got to HPA, I wanted to share what I had learned. When I was younger, I worked with people with disabilities and saw how effective animal therapy could be. And animals are so smart and compassionate. Animals don’t care if you’re not feeling okay, and I want other students to understand that it’s okay not to be okay all the time.

You’re headed to the Culinary Institute of America. How did that become your next adventure?
Film-making has been a great creative outlet here, but I’ve always loved cooking, especially making cakes. I never use a recipe—just make up something out of my feelings. Sometimes the results are amazing and sometimes not, but it’s such a creative process. For me, being able to share my emotions, my creativity, by feeding others is rewarding. People are happy when they’re eating cake. It’s such a simple thing, but it can make a huge difference.