Student writer shares inspiration and advice

By Maggie Beidelman

Mix a couple of Barry Manilow CDs, a computer and a quiet dorm room and you will most likely stumble upon writer David Wonpu pounding out one of his latest pieces on race and contemporary society. This past month, Wonpu earned the first prize for fiction in the American Identity Literary Contest for his piece, "Graduation, 2006."

The story featured Asian-American undergraduates and the racial conflicts they must face among family and peers as they make important life-changing decisions.

Just like many students at Santa Clara, Wonpu's search for a career and passion in life has been an ambivalent one.

"I thought I was going to be a journalist, then I thought I was going to be a lawyer, and then an astronaut," Wonpu said. "You know how it works â?¦ I'll be a dinosaur tamer."

After transferring to Santa Clara his sophomore year and declaring himself an accounting major, Wonpu reconsidered. He said he questioned his choice of major and decided, "I hate this."

Thus, he switched his major to English, deciding to pursue his dream of becoming a novelist and playwright.

"When you're in college, you're supposed to want to learn," said Wonpu, currently a senior.

"I think a lot of people here just want to get a degree and (get out)," he said, adding that he thinks those who don't like what they are studying shouldn't waste their parents' money.

As an English major, writing is no foreign task for the down-to-earth Las Vegas native. Rather, he considers it second nature.

He uses writing as an outlet for his frustrations with many issues, especially race and discrimination.

Last year, Wonpu wrote and directed the play at Santa Clara entitled "Forget About Me," which he claims is "the Asian version of The Breakfast Club."

In high school, Wonpu wrote one of 97 pieces chosen out of more then 7,000 -- and the only one from Nevada -- to be published in the book, "Teaching with Love, Laughter & Lemonade."

On the subjects of race and ethnicity, Wonpu finds most students afraid of stepping out of their comfort zone.

"The high school clique does not escape us here," said Wonpu.

Take, for example, the Multicultural Center.

"Most people have never been in there, will never go to any of their events," Wonpu said. "That's a shame. Where else are you going to find everything you need to know about every other race in one building?"

Although Wonpu admits that if he were white, he'd be a little afraid of the influx of and communication with and about different races, he advised that learning about people's differences is beneficial.

"The world is not Santa Clara University," he said. "The world is not Palo Alto."

Rather, the world is immeasurably diverse, Wonpu said.

He encouraged students to explore the outside world of uncertainty, differences and discomfort, "especially if you're going into business. You'll be a lot more successful as a professional, and as a person, if you understand how other people are."

Wonpu, who is Chinese -- "I'm not fancy, just Chinese," he said -- does a lot of research on contemporary and Chinese-American issues for his writing and for personal interest.

Whatever race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation you are, said Wonpu, it's your job to do research about it.

"Writers and musicians and artists are called upon to think differently than everyone else is," said Wonpu. "We have to actually understand human nature and human emotion and we have to question everything."

Wonpu said that when beginning a piece, he starts with personal experience. "You have to start from an emotional place."

Whether you're writing for class, the newspaper or the general public, "it's your job to develop a voice where people who aren't academics on that subject can understand you," while simultaneously retaining your own artistic voice, Wonpu said.

He added that it's important to "know who your audience is."

As far as getting inspiration for writing, Wonpu suggested, "Don't go about your day with blinders on."

Rise up out of your coffin of safety and solitude, he said. Your research is to observe the world, and then describe it to those who cannot see.

Contact Maggie Beidelman at (408) 551-1918 or mbeidelman@scu.edu.