Fay Shuai (C ‘25) has certainly bounced around the map, having lived in over six cities throughout her life, taking her from Tulsa, Okla. to Salt Lake City. At Penn, Fay’s various hometowns have enabled her to connect with so many people across campus, particularly with fellow Oklahomans, whom she believes share a unique sense of telepathy. Seeking a sense of stability and routine while moving around frequently as a kid, Fay developed a repertoire of niche hobbies, ranging from playing the piano and cello, DJing, running marathons, journaling, and figure skating. Above all, Fay’s creative energy and kindness shines through in everything she does. Fay led the Penn Figuring Skating team to nationals for the first time in history, discovering a vibrant sense of community at the Penn ice rink along the way. Now, she has relocated to Paris for the semester to study abroad, blown away by the city’s gardens, world–class art museums, food, and rich culture.
Name: Fay Shuai
Hometown: Owasso, Okla.; Tulsa, Okla.; McLean, Va.; Salt Lake City
Major: Politics, Philosophy, and Economics
Minor: French, Creative Writing
Activities: Penn Figure Skating, Baker Retailing Center, XFic Journal, Penn Creative Writing Program, Penn Fashion Collective, AKPsi
You mentioned that identifying your hometown is always a bit complicated. Tell me about the different cities you have lived in throughout your life.
I’ll start from the very beginning. I was born in San Francisco, and then I lived abroad in China (somewhere in Wuhan) with my grandparents, before moving back to a rural town in Oklahoma called Owasso. I spent the majority of my early childhood years there. So actually, my first language turned out to be Mandarin. During pre–K, kindergarten, elementary school in Owasso is when I learned how to speak English. I met three girls during my pre–K years who actually taught me how to speak English. Even to this day, we've been friends for 18 years now, and it's the most rewarding thing ever to know that they were there before I could even communicate in English. Owasso was whatever you imagine a rural, Southern, random town to be like; that's exactly what it's like. Everyone knows everyone.
In middle school, I moved to Tulsa, Okla. Then the biggest move by far was the move from Tulsa over to McLean, Va. That was my first experience in a big city, metro area, since it was so close to DC. While adjusting, I faced some academic challenges because the education system in Oklahoma is so different compared to Northern Virginia, which is a lot more fast–paced, a lot more organized, a lot better funded, and then also the racial diversity was a lot better in that area too. I definitely felt a little bit more at home seeing other people who looked like me.
Sometime during my sophomore year at Penn, my family made the move over to Salt Lake City, middle of nowhere–land. I actually have a younger brother that's three and a half years younger than me. He made history this past January being the first speed skater in the Youth Olympics from the United States to ever win a gold medal. He's literally my younger brother, but I find so much inspiration from him and his work ethic. Salt Lake City is where the Olympic Oval is, and that's where a lot of nationally recognized or international competitive speed skaters will go to train. That's how the move to Salt Lake City happened.
How has living in multiple cities throughout your life impacted you and your college experience?
I moved around so many times, and specifically at different stages of my life too. I never had elementary, middle school, or high school in the same city. One thing that I noticed is that in each place that I moved to, I had to get better and better at quickly rebuilding communities so that I could find the same joy and spend time around friends. When the first big move happened from Owasso to Tulsa, it was kind of hard because I was actually a really introverted kid, not a social butterfly at all. Now I consider myself very obviously an extrovert, but at the time, I had to learn how to break out of my shell, learn how to navigate slightly different communities and social cultures.
The other thing is I've developed such a great love for people who come from all different backgrounds because I've lived in so many different places, and I've done so many different things in all these cities. At Penn, I've been able to connect with so many people, especially all the Oklahomans. I know almost every single person that comes from Oklahoma. It's got to be telepathy or something; it's a small world. It's really rewarding to be able to connect with people and be able to chat with some people about growing up in the DMV area, but then also be able to connect with people from Oklahoma, or the people from Utah.
Lastly, because I moved around so often, the people in my life would always change, and I think that change is really hard to deal with as a kid. To find a sense of stability and consistency in my life, I would lean a lot into hobbies. No matter where I am—I’m currently studying abroad in Paris—if I need any sort of sense of stability and routine, I can always lean back on those hobbies.
Do you have a favorite memory from your time on Penn Figure Skating?
I’ve been figure skating since I was like seven or eight and at Penn, I've stayed true to it. I think it's a great form of self–expression and art, but it's also a sport too. It's like the best of both worlds: you get the athleticism, but then you also get the art. I have so many amazing memories. This past season, we went to Nationals for the first time in our history. I'm so proud of the team. I was leading the club with one of my really good friends as co–presidents at the time, so getting to see that happen during our time on exec board was also really rewarding. It was a fantastic experience and we were like, “this is gonna go down in history.” We also put on huge winter shows and I very much remember the one that we did for my sophomore winter. We performed The Nutcracker and it was so fun to produce. Everything was so magical; it was like I was living in a dream.
What sparks your inspiration for your creative writing?
I've done some creative writing at Penn for my minor and I actually took two of these classes with the same professor, Jay Kirk, because I just loved his style so much. I love the way that he thinks and encourages us to write. What really helped me develop as a writer is thinking about the human experience. I think that's always been something that I've gravitated towards when I write about anything at all. It ties a lot into a habit that I kept up with as a child and one of my other random hobbies: journaling. I recently finished an entire journal that took me 10 years to write. It's so cool because, say I do an entry in March 2024, if I'm bored, I could literally flip back to Oct. 5, 2015, and see exactly what I was thinking on that day. I love seeing how I've grown throughout the years, seeing how my handwriting and my tone of writing have changed over the years.
Growing up is never easy to deal with. I think that's all part of what encompasses the entirety of the human experience. Writing about those emotions and how to make sense of it all in a world where everything seems so confusing is what provides me the most inspiration. Not everyone's going to be so openly vulnerable to each other all the time, but I think when you show that vulnerability through your writing, it'll encourage people to open up more about the things that they don't talk about. That can lead to very honest, authentic conversations. Being able to find that authenticity through my writing gives me a lot of drive and gives me a lot of inspiration. What's driving me to keep writing is when you document all of that, and when you look back on your writing and think about all that's happened it feels all the more fulfilling knowing that you've kept true to yourself despite all the ups and downs in life.
How have you been spending your time thus far abroad in Paris?
Oh my gosh, Paris is unreal. I've been studying French for a decade now, so it's been in my life for such a long time that coming to this country, in a way, feels like coming home. At the same time, it's still a foreign country, and visiting here is so different from actually living here for a longer period of time. Paris has a lot of things that I've been trying to search for in the States, but I just haven't really found. I’ve spent the past two summers in New York City and for some reason, the art, the inspiration, the energy that I'd been searching for there, I've somehow just found it here in Paris. Enjoying the passing of time and enjoying human connection is really prominent in the culture over here. Also, the gardens here are nuts and the museums even more nuts. It's so full of life and art. I’ve just been enjoying everything that the city has to offer in terms of its history, its culture, the language, and the food. It is so fun and really fulfilling. I can't believe I still have another three and a half months here.
What are some of your favorite things to do in your free time?
I used to play piano and cello competitively as a kid. Playing instruments that I've grown up with when I have the time is just so fun for me. I also DJ, which I feel like is a continuation of my classical training. I have a sense of rhythm, and I have perfect pitch as well. I’m very glad I had the classical training because now when I mix music, I feel like I understand how all the more technical bits of mixing music works. I'm also a long–distance runner. I did the most impulsive thing that I've ever done in my life this past summer. I attempted to run an ultra marathon without any training, and I actually got through 28.5 miles. I had never run a full marathon before. If people want to do a marathon without training, by all means, go and do it, because it's totally possible—you just have to bring a lot of snacks with you and a lot of water!
Where on campus have you found the best sense of community?
The ice rink. It's more than just the figure skating team over there, even the beginner skaters who are just starting to learn how to skate—everyone is so supportive of each other. It's just an entire family over there at the rink and everyone knows everyone. I've found the most sense of community there.
What’s next for you after Penn?
I literally get so happy talking about this because I love the company so much. I'm going back to L'Oreal full–time as a digital marketing management trainee. Going to New York to L'Oreal for my internship and the entire internship experience somehow completely healed my mental health. It's the people; it's the work. I feel like I found something that feels like a hobby, but it happens to be my career, which I think is the best–case scenario a career could be for you. When you go into work every day and you're so happy to be here. No, the work is not easy all the time. Yes, you're gonna be busy. But at the same time, I love what I'm doing so much that I feel the drive to keep on going. I'm just so happy that I'll be able to return back to the same company that I love post–grad. I’m so excited.
Lightning Round Questions:
No–skip song? Fire for You by the Cannons and Ink by Coldplay.
Early bird or night owl? Both, it depends on my mood.
Favorite spot for food near campus? Pietro’s.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? China, to see the rest of my extended family and my grandparents.
Cook dinner or order in? Cook!
Favorite French dessert? A traditional hot chocolate with whipped cream. You have to sip it and people watch while you’re at it.
There are two types of people at Penn… People who purposely walk on the compass, and the people who avoid it like the plague.
And you are? I walk on the compass. But I will say, I walked on it my very first week as a freshman, and I actually did fail my first midterm. Just in spite of the bad juju and the rumors, every time I walk on Locust, I walk on the compass.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Do you know that one senior who brings a smile to everyone’s face or always has the craaaaziest stories? It’s time to give them the recognition they deserve. Ego of the Week seeks to showcase seniors not for their grades or any other fake academic construct, but for who they are as a person and the joy they bring to the people around them! Nominate your favorite Penn Seniors for Ego of the Week!
