Syd Miori Gion: ikaika

Syd Miori Gion was born March 3^rd, 1991 in Honolulu, Hawaii. As a child, she always loved when her birthday rolled around, because March 3^rd is what is known as “hinamatsuri”, or “Girl’s Day” in Japan. The Japanese influence in Hawaii is huge, so every year on her birthday, the boys in her class had to give chocolates or other sweets to the girls. She supposes it is akin to being born on Valentine’s Day. Japanese culture has always been a large part of Syd’s life. Her mother was born in Okinawa, Japan, and moved to Hawaii in the 1980s. She grew up eating many Japanese foods and speaking a strange mix of Japanese and Hawaiian, which escaped her as she grew older and started to attend a private school that focused on English. Her father’s ethnic background is massive; he is Irish, French, Chinese, Cherokee, and Filipino. Everyone in Hawaii is happa, or “half”, usually Japanese and something else. Looking at Syd, it is absolutely impossible to commit her to one single ethnicity, and she is proud of this fact.

Syd loves the lack of distinction about race that exists in Hawaii, and the deep bond the people share from the unique culture. She notes that because it is impossible to know what exactly people are, it is impossible to discriminate against them. That equality, which she did not notice until she came to New York, is one thing she greatly values about her culture. Another thing she loves about her culture is the large sense of family. The Disney movie, Lilo and Stitch, about a Hawaiian girl and her alien friend, greatly emphasizes the importance of family. This emphasis is completely accurate, according to Syd. One of the hardest things about leaving Hawaii for Syd was leaving her family. Before she left, she got her brother’s name tattooed across on her chest, where her heart is. She understands that many people find this strange, but she does not mind. Without her younger brother, Syd has no idea where she would be. He is her rock, the boat in a large, dark sea.

She misses the warmth that comes from everyone in Hawaii, but she feels that she had to leave. There was simply too much familiarity for her. Days blurred into weeks and weeks blurred into years. There is only a certain amount of beach and beauty and nature a person can take, she thought. She needed a change. And coming to New York City was certainly a huge change for her. She found herself thrown into a concrete jungle, where she felt everyone was more well-read, well-listened, and overall more intelligent than her. She felt inferior. It took her a while to realize that, while she may not understand discussions about the stock market or have anything to contribute to a discussion about the latest Broadway attraction, she was more empathetic, perceptive, and unique than most. Because everyone in Hawaii must be nice, less a bad rumor starts and quickly spreads around the island, Syd is like a sponge that can soak up bad energy and turn any situation around. She has an excellent talent at reading people and making them happy.

She plans to use this natural talent in her career, and is studying psychology at the New School. Although she knows that the New School has a reputation of being “a fake college”, she does not let this bother her. She attends her classes earnestly while balancing her part time job at Sunrise Mart. Syd is always trying new things, going through one phase after another, but never truly losing her sense of self. Syd is incredibly confident, but not cocky. She simply understands what she is and what she is not. And she understands well what other people are and what they are not, and accepts them for it, whole-heartedly. Syd does everything whole-heartedly. She always wants to push her boundaries, and dives into things headfirst. She has been vegan for the past six months, just to see if she can. She loves to test herself, and never minds when she fails. She understands that she is simply incapable of some things, and moves on to find something else she can accomplish.

Syd believes that growing up in Hawaii has made her less intellectual than the everyday New Yorker, but she has a large knowledge of philosophy, history of many cultures, and literature. She has the amusing talent of being able to memorize a song when she hears it only once, and she sings and dances always. There is always music in her head, she says. She loves music, and musical theater. Her dream in life is to have everyone around her suddenly break out into song, performing a dance number in the streets like in a musical. If that happens, she says, her life would be complete; she could leave the earth then, as there would be nothing else to live for. Until then, however, she will keep living on, with her Hawaiian culture in her heart and the dizzying New York City life on her mind, putting her soul into everything.