On numerous occasions, Jenna Otto has demonstrated her guqin skills in front of students and visiting guests at UIC, in addition to her Mandarin proficiency. Her drive and ambition have opened up opportunities such as experiencing a new culture, learning a new language, and even performing and travelling as a musician in China.
Jenna is from Northfield, Minnesota, US. Her passion for the Chinese language and culture first started in high school, and that passion and knowledge continues to grow with her diligent studies.
She first came to UIC as an exchange student, where she joined the Guqin Club. After graduation from Concordia College, Moorhead in 2016, she then became a foreign intern and later a teaching assistant in the Statistics Programme of UIC.
Chinese culture and music
Jenna says guqin is like a “Hybrid of Chinese culture and music”, which were also her minors as an undergraduate student.
In fact, Jenna was the first foreigner in the Guqin Club, and she can confidently say she helped recruit other foreigners. Mandy Li, the guqin instructor, aided Jenna by giving her lessons and encouraged her to perform at various events for guests and students.
Her interpretation of playing the guqin requires the musician to “Remember to stay in a present mindset”. She described the process of remembering the moment when a musician concentrates on the first note they play and focuses on how it feels.
She talked about being relaxed, poised and self-aware. Mediation is a factor Jenna listed as a benefit to learning and playing the guqin. She also commented on how she was able to take that concept of mediation and transfer it to her playing of other instruments.
Jenna is also talented with the trumpet as well as the French horn. With the knowledge and background of two very different instruments, she says there can be several skills and aspects that are either challenging, beneficial, transferable, or interesting with experiencing the oddities learnt through trying something new.
Diverse Talents
Jenna is a part of the Golden Jazz Band, a group of talented musicians who mainly perform in the Beishan district of Zhuhai. Rehearsals include sectionals with individual instruments groups and then finally, all together. Jenna also provides vocals when performing certain songs, and completely captives the audience.
Different skill sets come with each of these talents, such as reading Western music sheets for Golden Jazz Band, as opposed to the music notes in Chinese characters for guqin. However, Jenna elaborates “Although the different notations can be hard, they are definitely fun to learn”.
When asked what UIC can do to improve its music programme, she suggested encouraging more international students and staff to try learning Chinese instruments.
In addition to her life as a musician, Jenna is currently a teaching assistant in the Statistics Programme of UIC, where she helps grade students’ assignments and manages the grade books. She also teaches classes called tutorial, where she goes over assignments or certain questions that students need help with. As well as this, she edits the English versions of the department documents.
Jenna describes Zhuhai as a place that is “A big-time city with a small-town feel”. She plans to acquire a Master’s degree in Data Science and Analysis with an ideal career of working for an international company, so she can still travel to China and continue using her Chinese language skills.
Jenna’s eagerness to tackle challenges compels her to try new things, and thus, becoming a talented, well-rounded person, and an excellent member of the UIC staff.
From MPRO
Reporter: Marissa Furney
Editors: Deen He, Samuel Burgess, Étienne Fermie
