The Ghostwriter had the opportunity to sit down and interview senior Trey Hansen for our Student Spotlight series. Read this transcript below for our full interview!
In this interview, Hansen shares his many passions such as music, getting involved in WATA, and fashion. Hansen also talks about his inspirations and what he aspires to do in the future.
Q: Please state your name and grade.
A: My name is Trey Hansen and I’m a senior.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
A: I love music. And I love expression and art. So as you can kind of see, I’m a big fan of fashion clothing and dressing up. And I chose to be filmed and interviewed in this room, the music room at WA, because I’ve spent a lot of my time here. I’ve learned some of the most important things to my passions here in this room.
Q: Did you learn to play guitar here?
A: I started teaching myself before I came to WA, but I learned a lot in that seat right over there. I spent a lot of hours playing more and more guitar, teaching myself further with the help of Mrs. St. George, and a couple of the other teachers at WA. I also enrolled in her college level AP Theory class, and I did pretty well in the class. I really enjoyed it, it was probably one of my favorite classes I took. It was very helpful for me as a musician, but also, it was so different from any other class I’ve taken. I really enjoyed it, it was very fun.
Q: What was your favorite part about the class?
A: I think I liked how it wasn’t your typical AP class where you study and then you do the test, it’s a lot more based on how well you can actually hear it [the music]. And a lot of times you can’t cram your studying in because if you don’t have the ear for it and you haven’t developed your ear for the spirit of listening to the music or trying to understand what’s going on, you’re not going to be able to get it. So I spent a lot of time at home on my own, just studying, and listening to music. And it was kind of fun, how I could listen to music and it was studying. A lot of times my studying was just listening to music and trying to find what we learned in class and the music I liked, which I had a lot of fun doing.
Q: Are you part of any of the music clubs here?
A: I never did any music clubs at WA, I think I should have but, I guess I just never came around to doing it. The only club I’m a part of is currently WATA. I’m in their competition show for set manipulation, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with that. That’s another form of how I express myself with art. I really enjoy the theater programs at WA. I take a public speaking class with Mr. Towers, it’s very, very fun. I love all the arts.
Q: Do you do any acting in it?
A: I do set manipulation. So over my February break, I was helping build the set in our show, ‘Disgraced’. I was helping build the giant walls that are used in our show. So I do set manipulation, which means I’m part of the team that puts the set on the stage in less than five minutes, and it’s a cool challenge, because you have to be quick, but you have to be precise. It was fun to learn and navigate your setup quickly, but also efficiently and safely. A lot of our stuff was built from scratch. We had people that did all the designing and the blue printing, the set was just planks of wood that were drilled and screwed together. Then we would put cardboard on it and paint the cardboard. It is really fun to watch, and it’s really awesome to see it all on the stage. We’re like, “yeah, we did that”.
Q: Is there something that you could tell us that people don’t really know about you?
A: I’m very open minded to a lot. There isn’t really anything that someone can show me and I’ll automatically be like, it’s not for me. Maybe I’m not big on sports, but anything, whatever it is, it can be movies, shows, art, like physical art, it can be books or whatnot. I’ve seen new things, I like to learn from the things I see or read or look at. I like to try things that are different every now and then from what I normally do.
Q: When did you start getting into fashion?
A: That started around my sophomore year, I remember exactly what happened. It was one of the best things I did at WA. I think I got it from a combination of my older brother and my dad, and seeing how they looked and they presented themselves and I was like, man, that’s so presentable. I like the idea of looking presentable. I want people to see me in a good light and just be like, yeah, he looks like he has himself together. In sophomore year I started just trying new things. I’m like, I’m going to try and wear something nicer, maybe find some nicer shirts to wear, and one thing spiraled after another and then I began to start looking at cool new things, trying all kinds of new stuff. In the beginning you kind of get those couple of looks from people where they’re like, “well that’s a different outfit”. But eventually it became part of me, as now people know me as the well dressed guy. Then junior year is definitely when it really started to sit in. Now as a senior, I’ve reached the point where it’s like, I’m just going to wear anything. I don’t really care anymore. It helped my confidence because it made me realize that people ultimately like [the outfits], or respect you for it. I have a very big fascination with New York and that environment, so I was stuck thinking about going to college in the cities in some way. A few months ago, I went to New York and I would see some of the richer people walking around in the Starbucks in New York. I love that life.
Q: Would you be going into college for a major in art?
A: One of my other interests is social sciences, and I was thinking about looking into expression therapy, which is basically like how the therapeutic process is done through artistic expression, like theater, acting, music, and art. It’s a bit of a niche field. I would also tap into the more, just medical forms to blend both. So I was looking at potentially doing social work as a major, for expression therapy.
Q: That’s a cool major, you don’t hear that too often.
A: No you don’t, but there is definitely a need for social workers right now.
Q: Were there any other colleges in New York that stood out to you more?
A: No, NYU stood out, I’m currently looking at Boston University, which I love. Boston University runs through my family. A lot of my family went there. I like Boston, too. It’s not as big as New York, but I still get that vibe I’m looking for when I’m in Boston, like that nice city vibe.
Q: Thank you for sharing with us!
A: Thank you for having me.
