Choice Champions Scholarship Student Profile: James Loc wants to expand representation in media through animation

Games have a way of expanding the world around us by introducing worldbuilding, writing, art, and fantasy.For Knowledge Academy senior James Loc, the game Skyrim expanded his world and his future.“I love Skyrim,” wrote James Loc in his Choice Champions Scholarship essay. “I remember back in 2012 coming home from school, turning on the television, and spending the rest of my day immersed in a world of might, magic, and dragons. I loved how there was an entire universe held within the television, and I mean literally. Like many children who grew up playing video games, or consuming any form of entertainment, I truly believed that everything shown actually existed somewhere in the universe, or at least inside the television. I clearly remember peeking into the speakers of the television every time I shut it off, hoping to see the characters or creatures inside unwinding and relaxing after a session of quests and adventures, all to no avail.”Loc was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Asian immigrant parents who came to the states to make a better life for themselves and their family. Two months later, the family decided to escape the cold weather and move to Antioch, Tennessee where Loc eventually enrolled in public school.Using Metro Nashville Public School’s (MNPS) Optional Schools process, Loc transferred out of his zoned middle school and into Knowledge Academy. Loc says he grew to love the public charter school for its smaller and tighter-knit classes and chose to stay for high school instead of transferring to larger school.Loc came from a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)-focused household where engineering and medicine were the norm. The teen says because of that, he felt at first the natural course was to pursue a medical degree as a doctor.“I was very academically gifted, I suppose. I didn’t really need to spend time studying. I could sit in the class, and I was able to absorb a lot of the information. And being from an immigrant Asian household, there’s like this standard to get into medical, get into engineering and I internalized that.”It wasn’t until his sophomore year that Loc started to consider pursuing visual arts.That switch came partially because the pandemic left him unsure of what he could use his STEM studies for.  Another reason came from playing mobile games with a friend, who remarked that they should make their own games together.“My friend and I, we played this game, and we would always joke about like, because it was a relatively new game, so like the roster of like characters and just like general like stuff you could do and it was very limited. So, he would joke around like, ‘oh, we should try to like, make our own stuff.’ And I did, I tried drawing some characters and drawing some settings and all that and I really liked it, and then I was able to apply that in the arts classes I was kind of put into so I could get my creative arts credits in. But I really, really enjoyed that a lot more than I thought I did and it kind of like awakened how much I liked the visual aspects of like entertainment and like media in general.”Loc has another very personal reason for pursuing animation and entertainment.For most of his life, he’s been in the closet about being homosexual. The teen says he never saw himself in the media he’s consumed, and he realized it’s important for everyone to be represented so that other kids like him can see themselves on TV.“I mentioned being a closeted homosexual for a good part of my life. What many don’t realize is that being LGBTQ+ is not a choice in of itself. Rather, being in the closet is. The choice of the matter is whether you come out of the closet that society has conformed you in. Coming out was a major turning point in why I am pursuing animation and entertainment. I hope to see a future where, ironically, people don’t have to make such a choice and are able to see themselves represented in everyday media without political turmoil.”Loc’s love of the arts and desire to expand the worlds of others, recently earned him the honor of being one of  six Choice Champions College Scholarship winners. The nonprofit organization Tennesseans for Student Success created the scholarship to celebrate students attending a school of choice (public charter, magnet, or optional) who are seeking higher education opportunities.The Tennessee Firefly receives funding from Tennesseans for Student Success.In the fall Loc will use that scholarship to attend Lipscomb University where he’s been accepted for its competitive animation degree program.Loc’s life would have taken a very different path had he continued to pursue medicine. In his scholarship essay he says he was initially too stubborn to accept that creation and creativity ran through him.“You’re always one choice away from a completely different life,” said Loc. “I wanted to pursue STEM, I want to be a doctor to kind of follow that stereotypical family norm. But I decided ‘you know what, why don't I choose something different?’ That'll like, actually make me feel more accomplished than what's expected of me. And by making that choice, I completely changed emotionally, socially, all of that. You’re always like a single step away from like a whole different life.”