Ray Ka

Tell us About Yourself​

I’m from the Bay Area, specifically San Jose, and have lived there all my life up until now. I have two older sisters–one is 29 and the other is 23. As the youngest of the family, I’ve always had the luxury of getting life advice and experience from my oldest sisters, and I definitely wouldn’t be who I am today without them. I’m half Korean and half Vietnamese and coming from both an East Asian and Southeast Asian background has shaped my cultural identity today. Seeing two completely different cultures merge together was a completely unique experience and opened my eyes to the differences between my two halves. At home I have my own Scottish Terrier, so my family likes to think that I was meant to be at CMU. I started playing guitar two years ago and fell in love with the instrument. I used to sing, and what really motivated me to begin playing guitar was so I could make my own instrumentals to songs I listen to often. I started with acoustic guitar but last year got my own electric guitar, so I’ve been playing more electric recently. Continuing along the music path, I love music! It’s one of the things I love most in life, and you can almost always see me with an airpod or my headphones on. I started getting into producing and mixing my own music, and while I’ve hit many obstacles along the way, it’s fun to see the behind the scenes process of how music is created. I also like to express my love for music through poster designs, which I love creating in my spare time. Throughout middle school and high school, I mostly specialized in 3D conceptual sculptures, but I wanted to branch out in my art mediums. So, I tried graphic design and instantly connected with it. I started out with simple designs and moved onto posters, and now I’m here majoring in design which is honestly still pretty crazy to me.