The New York Times Fifth Annual Podcast Contest announced this year’s winners on July 1, recognizing three Mercer Island High School (MIHS) rising sophomores out of the 1,600 entries submitted from around the world.

Hayley Nguyen was a winner of the competition and Amuktha Josyula and Chloe Yang received honorable mentions. All three students are participants of their school’s student run radio station.

Nguyen’s podcast, “When the Water Is Calm,” presents part of the journey of her father, Thinh Nguyen, and his escape from Vietnam at the age of 13 in 1986 as one of the Vietnamese “boat people.”

“It’s awesome to know my dad’s story is out there,” she said. “His story is so similar to hundreds of thousands of other Vietnamese boat people out there and I’m really proud that I was able to share his story, but also be able to open up the opportunity for other voices to be heard.”

She said she did not expect to win because the contest received so many submissions from all over the world. She was therefore “shocked but also very happy” to learn she had won.

Since she was very little, Nguyen’s father told her bedtime stories about his experiences, but never went into all the details. Nguyen said this project gave her the opportunity to learn more about her family history, which she was very grateful for.

She interviewed her father so their family would have a digital record of part of his journey and learn more about his experiences.

“I wanted it to be something that would be remembered throughout time, that I could tell other people about, maybe that I could tell my kids about and that would just be a moment that would be remembered forever.”

In MIHS’s radio station program, students get the opportunity to express themselves with the support of a great community, according to Joe Bryant, Nguyen’s advisor for this project.

“Really, I just kind of show them how microphones work and a little bit of digital editing and get out of their way and give them some guidance and tips and feedback as they go and they really do the rest,” said Bryant. “I couldn’t think of better people to be mentoring…I have the greatest job in the world.”

MIHS’s radio station, KMIH 88.9 The Bridge, boasts the world’s largest high school podcast network with 36 shows. The program is made up of over 150 students who have won over 75 national awards since the station’s founding in 1969.

MIHS students have participated in this contest since 2019, producing two previous winners before Nguyen’s 2022 victory.

Previous winners of the NYT Podcast Contest from MIHS were Lila Shroff in 2019 and Gabe Gottesman in 2021.

For more information on similar contests, go to nytimes.com and search for contests.

Students ages 11 to 19 anywhere in the world attending middle or high school are eligible to participate.

Nguyen and her fellow winning contestants’ podcasts can be found and listened to at the following link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/learning/winners-of-our-fifth-annual-podcast-contest.html.

Young Thinh Nguyen. Photo courtesy of Hayley Nguyen.

Chloe Yang. Photo courtesy of Joe Bryant.

Hayley Nguyen. Photo courtesy of Joe Bryant.

Amuktha Josyula. Photo courtesy of Joe Bryant.