Microphone in hand, she walks onto the stage and flashes a smile to her audience before announcing the next performance for the Rosemead Moon Festival. Sophomore Samantha Kao, who has experience as an emcee and reporter, is no stranger to crowds.
Kao works with a talent company called UniStar, which offers a variety of classes to young people looking to pursue entertainment such as dancing, acting, broadcasting and more. For Kao, she is mainly focused on building her emceeing and journalism skills, but she also participates in other talents like voice acting. She has gotten the opportunity to host events such as modeling shows and has reported at events such as Pixar Fest at the Disneyland Resort and Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios.
“I love seeing all the different [performances] because every show is different,” Kao said. “There’s always different people and I get to meet a bunch of new people. I also get to go to a lot of different places with my team, and it’s always really fun.”
Max Wang, Kao’s friend from UniStar, often partners up with her to co-host and report different events, such as Grinchmas at Universal Studios. Because he works with her often, Wang has gotten to witness Kao’s growth over time.
“She’s grown a lot more confident and comfortable on camera,” Wang said. “When either on stage or camera, there’s always a lingering pressure for you to keep your act up. Inexperienced emcees tend to tense up and start freezing, which is exactly what Samantha used to do. Now, she’s found her groove. Even if she’s scared or nervous, she’s able to hide it well.”
Since there is much variety in what Kao does, she comes across many unique learning experiences, a lot of which often include fun challenges.
“I remember one time [my class] had to practice being McDonald’s ad voice actors. We had to say the terms of service at the end of the commercial really fast, and it was a serious challenge but it was fun. Everyone has their ‘voice acting’ voice. You have to add emotion and speed up, so a lot of stuff goes into it,” Kao said.
Even when Kao first started her journey with public hosting and reporting, it was no easy feat. Overcoming stage fright and learning how to have faith in herself wasn’t something that just happened overnight.
“I eventually learned to overcome that feeling of fear and it became easier over time. As you practice a lot, it just starts to become second nature to you,” Kao said. “When you first start doing it, you just have to prepare as much as you can and memorize what you want to say, and then it just becomes muscle memory.”
Not only did Kao’s involvement in UniStar help her become more confident, it also allowed her to become more in touch with her Chinese culture.
“The reason I encouraged Samantha to join UniStar was because I wanted her to learn Chinese in different ways. The instructor from UniStar is also a well-known Chinese radio host and she knows how to teach Chinese in a fun variety of ways,” Kao’s mom, ShiaoPing Huang, said.
Kao first joined UniStar’s summer school in 2018. Although she doubted her capabilities in the beginning, she eventually became more comfortable with her abilities as time went on. UniStar helped her discover what areas of entertainment she was most confident in, and she slowly became more interested in pursuing her passions. Now, she recognizes her journey in entertainment as an incredibly valuable asset for her future.
“I want to major in business and pursue it in my career, so I feel like this has really prepared me for public speaking,” Kao said. “You know how during meetings, you always have to present your proposals and things like that? This has definitely prepared me a lot for that, and it’s also definitely also nurtured my quick thinking. On the spot, you have to be able to respond to mishaps, and I’ve been able to train that ability into my mind.”
Not only does Kao regard her involvement in emceeing and reporting as something fun and exciting, she also acknowledges it as something that has helped her grow tremendously as a person and strengthen her sense of self.
“It’s really special to do these things at a young age. Pursue your passions,” Kao said. “I’ve been doing this since I was really young, and that’s something I’ve really taken away from this experience.”
