Taekwondo is a Korean martial art which combines combat techniques, self-defense, and sometimes meditation.
“I love taekwondo because it is not only a sport, but it is a way of life,” said Lo. “It emphasizes life skills like respect, discipline, perseverance, responsibility, and honor.”
Lo said that there she gets a great adrenaline rush from kicking bags or an opponent and that the sport can be seen as a battlefield.
Through this sport, Lo said that she has been able to travel nationally and internationally and has made friends worldwide.
As a third degree blackbelt, Lo has numerous accomplishments. She is a two-time USA national team member, three time gold medalist at the US Open, four time gold medalist at the Junior Olympics for forms, three time gold medalist at the Junior Olympics for sparring, bronze medalist at the Dutch Open, and a gold medalist at the Toronto Open.
Out of all her achievements, her most memorable was when she went to represent the USA in Nepal for a tournament of 13 national teams.
Unfortunately, during the fight, Lo tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
“I never gave up and ended up beating the girl 11-1,” said Lo. “It showed that if I put my mind to it, I can achieve the impossible. It was a very proud moment.”
Due to injury, Lo had to forfeit the finals. However, she was awarded best female athlete.
These feats did not come without extremely hard work and effort.
“I have put so much time into taekwondo,” said Lo.
Her daily schedule for six days in a week is to wake up at 5:30 in the morning, go to the gym for weights and strengthening exercises, go to school, come back and run or go for a bike ride, then finish her homework. Lo then drives to Oakland and practices for three hours and returns home at 11:30 at night.
Lo never gets a break during the weekends, when she takes part in several tournaments.
Lo plans to continue taekwondo this fall with the taekwondo team at UC Berkeley. Her involvement in taekwondo did not give her any pull to get into the school and she worked very hard to keep her grades up.
“For the people who are wondering, it is very possible to keep up your grades and pursue your passion,” said Lo.
At UC Berkeley, Lo will be studying psychology and then studying further to become a sports psychologist.
“I have a lot of experience with sports psychology through my sport,” said Lo. “I also already have taught some taekwondo seminars where I lead a training and then talked about the mental aspect of the sport.”
