Tiffany Sung: Cover Star

By: Olyvia Renae Young

On February 12th, 2025, Measure Magazine and Silver Needle Runway (two experiential fashion classes at Marist University), had their annual student model casting. Tiffany Sung, a senior film and graphic design student, had been receiving encouragement from her friends during the days leading up, to at least show up and see what happens. They all seemed to be confident in the fact that she was surely to be chosen for at least one photo shoot or the fashion show finale. On the day of the casting, in a hasty moment of “f**k it” mentality, she decided to go.

Born and raised in a Korean household in Colombus, Georgia, which is about 2 hours away from Atlanta, Tiffany began to explore the world of media, at what most would consider, too young an age. The movie and television content she watched as a little kid was more mature than others may have been used to. She often watched sci-fi, horror, and war movies, in the company of her own parents no less, and began to fall in love with the world of art and film. En route to university, she decided graphic design and animation felt the best for her. But, as she watched more films and got to see the behind-the-scenes process of making a film, Tiffany realized she was made for this, so that major soon became her minor and film became her priority. This love for film dates back to the long-gone days of middle school, and her time as a theater kid. The doors to the theater world were opening as she was at the cusp of becoming a woman, something sparked in her igniting the path to here.

Tiffany told me, while in the makeup chair for her cover shoot , “I saw the players on the stage, and I thought, ‘I could pursue that. I could do that’, and so I did.” From there, theater became an integral part of her college career, securing roles in multiple plays and musicals, writing and performing for Marist Monologues, and even participating in the Annual Playwrights Festival. In 2023, Tiffany decided to submit an original script to the festival. With years’ worth of angst and political opinions bubbling just under the surface, there was no time like the present for Gym Gym Bang. Coming from the Korean word for sauna or bathhouse, the play was a not so indirect commentary on the Asian experience, during and after COVID. The pent-up feelings were just at their boiling point when her Shakespearean perspective on a series of hate crimes against Asians during COVID, specifically a shooting in a nail salon, all came out in her dark dramedy. Centered around a conversation between two generations of women, played by a male and nonbinary cast like that of plays before women were allowed in the theater, the story shines a light on the small group of people alienated by the time. And most importantly, her experiences as a Korean person in Atlanta.

“I got a lot of feedback and it made certain people uncomfortable,” signaling those people had intended to receive an apology, “but that’s sort of the point.” Often times when space is created for a group of people who make the majority uncomfortable or scared there is a resistance to the inclusive space that is to unavoidably appear. It’s as if this new small space begins to cramp their style and suddenly, if the space isn’t inclusive to everyone, then it simply isn’t at all. Shortly after the festival ended, a girl who had been in the audience, who also happened to be Asian, approached Tiffany and thanked her for what she did and the space she created. Simultaneously, Tiffany felt that for the first time in a long time someone saw her, heard her, understood her, “It was rewarding because, ultimately, it was for her.” Media, sometimes, is not meant for the general public or a wide audience. Every once in a while, a piece of media may just be for a group of five people, hell even one person. “There are just some things you have to make space for,” Tiff told me, “If only one or two people say it was touching to them, that’s all I need.” Alas the play touched far beyond just one or two people , she took home the first place and $1000 cash prize for the 41st Annual Playwrights Festival.

During the same angst filled sophomore year, the silence from the few women within the male dominated graphic design program, was palpable. Additionally, Tiffany’s tolerance of the silence was waning, and she was to the point of speaking just to fill the void. You know the type, the one to raise a hand in class, even if they don’t need anything, just to make some kind of verbal contribution. This is where the wheels started turning, and the brainstorming with her co-founder and president of the Women in Media club, Elizabeth Baumgardner, took flight.

“Elizabeth and I shared this same feeling as women, if there is silence, we are speaking,” she said with a smile, but it wasn’t long before either of them realized, there was not yet a space where the silence could be broken in a comfortable and educational way. The goal was to create a community for women in a media studies program or with an interest in digital media, to come together and learn, collaborate, and inspire. The process was arduous, taking just over a year from the start of the process until their first meeting. But now, the club is thriving, there are game workshops, group activities, and discussions with the members of the clubs coming from majors related and unrelated to media studies, like environmental science. It was like Gym Gym Bang all over again, they had been granted this beautiful privilege of creating another small space for those who may not be able to find it otherwise, in order for them to feel included and lifted up. In the time the club has been in operation, there has even been interest from men, especially when it comes to the gaming workshops. Tiffany started to get really serious, “I mean, it’s kind of cool to see men show up, ready to learn about gaming from a woman leader. But we also have to make it clear that even though they’re welcome, it is a space for women to shine,” her tone steady, “it is their job to respect that. To respect them.”

As the end of her tenure as President and the grand walk across the commencement stage falls within arm’s reach, the future of the club is exciting to think about. “I hope they take it and run with it,” she laughs, “I hope they make it their own.” When I asked what the most fulfilling part of this community had been, I was met with an answer that reassured, yet again, Measure’s choice to have Tiffany on our cover. “I love when I get to wave to more people on campus, and then I get to have more conversations with those people about their experiences.” We both smile, “Its truly so special.” During the spell check process, we were texting back and forth and she started to tell me about how the women in her life have truly taught her so much, and the overwhelming sense of gratitude she feels towards them. “They have shaped my perspective on the world and what it needs.” By surrounding ourselves with people who teach us more about ourselves and the world and each other, than we thought they could, a kind of love is formed and sustained. I mean Tiffany said it best, “#livelaughlovemysisters.”

We got to the end of our interview, and I was ready to ask her the big question: How Do You Measure Up? It was like there was a window to her brain and you could actively see the gears turning as she thought of how to best answer. First, she reflected on failure, and having the courage to fail. Once one can accept, they might fail, this sudden urge and drive to push yourself more, emerges. “Its okay to fail, it should be exciting to,” her tone almost educational, “it proves you are capable of more than you might have thought.” This same fear of failure eventually carried Tiffany to the model casting. Her view of herself had been becoming skewed, not in line with the view others had of her. In the nominations we received during the cover star selection process, friends described her as passionate, empathetic, and “a light”. A beauty surrounds her, inside and out, it’s noticeable upon the first time you interact with her. She has this sort of goofy confidence, its contagious and impossible to not be impacted by it. Which is probably why she was cast in the Measure Volume 12 Promotional video. “It was a crazy experience because, it was so different from the other film projects I have been a part of. This one featured the real me, not a character.”

Once college concludes and all the festivities that come with graduation are over, Tiffany plans on returning back home to Atlanta to spend time with family and reconnect. The thought of becoming a Monk for a year has also been on the table, seeing as she comes from a Buddhist family, it feels like something she could learn from. But for now, her focus lies on finishing her capping project; a twenty-minute short film she is creating with Elizabeth Baumgardner, “and my other amazing teammates Natalie, Morgan, Facundo, and Steve.” The story centers around two girls in a taro card reading, who learn that the world is going to end, “it’s been a lot, but we’re pushing through.” Her family doesn’t know much about what happens in her life on campus, meaning the club and the shows, because they live in the South, far away. A feeling I know too well. With this new cover star era, there is now physical evidence of how the work she has been doing is impactful and important. Something to give her family and her sisters, blood and found, as an offering maybe, a thanks. “I feel like I have something to be like ‘here, look what I did’, you know showcase my accomplishments,” we lock eyes as she continues, “I don’t know, I just feel like this cover star moment, is that something.”