Written by: Sadie Latimer | News Editor
If you have seen someone dancing down the streets of Monmouth wearing a pair of iconic sunglasses, it’s most likely been 20-year-old Trey Vincent. He has lived in Monmouth for about 13 years and will find any excuse to show off his moves around town. Even though he is not a student, he may still be found dancing down the sidewalks of Western’s campus. When asked if he was enrolled, he replied, “No, I just like walking around all the time.”
“I absolutely love listening to my music, and I also like dancing,” said Vincent. “There’s a perfectly good road ahead of me. Why not dance and listen to music?”
Specifically, Vincent prefers tunes from anywhere between the 1940’s and 1990’s. Most recently, Vincent had “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” by Dean Martin on loop. “(Dean Martin) is called the ‘King of Cool,’” said Vincent. The song was released in July 1960 and was originally written for the film “Ocean’s 11.”
“Also, I’ve been listening to ‘From Russia with Love’ by Matt Monro. It’s one of the James Bond theme songs, and I’ve been watching the Sean Connery Bond films,” said Vincent.
Although his favorite songs are not from this century, he does branch out occasionally.
“My friends have been trying to get me into Sabrina Carpenter and I’m not going to lie, for a modern performer, she does pretty good,” said Vincent. Although it may be a bit controversial, he admitted to not being a fan of Taylor Swift.
Although the weather has been less than ideal recently for those who love the outdoors and the sun, Vincent can still occasionally be spotted frolicking down a sidewalk.
“Sometimes I’m just not in the mood to dance in the rain. But there are some times I have all this pent-up energy and I just gotta head down (a road).”
No matter what — rain or shine — Vincent can always be spotted wearing a pair of sunglasses. It’s the one item he can’t live without, and he owns fourteen pairs.
At heart, Vincent is an extrovert. He loves meeting, starting conversations and sharing his music with new people.
He is currently working at a police academy in Salem, Oregon, as a roleplayer. He acts out scenarios with the cops-in-training, such as pretending to get arrested or being in a high-speed chase. He also occasionally acts out behavioral health scenarios for practice. “Apparently I’m very believable,” said Vincent.
He’s been working as a roleplayer since March 2023. “They post notices every few months. For me, it was in January of last year, and then I got the job in March. They also do another hiring process in October,” he said.
In his spare time, Vincent loves to do karate. He first joined mainly to make new friends, however, he was also influenced by the TV show “Cobra Kai,” a modern continuation of the “Karate Kid” movies.
In school, Vincent’s least favorite subject was math, with his favorite subject being P.E.
“I never got a chance to do acting in high school … so P.E. was my favorite by default.” He does hope to do more acting in the future, inspired by his favorite actor, Robert Downey Jr.
Despite not being fond of math, he loves learning new things. “I would like to build up as many skills as possible and learn as many languages as I can before I turn 25,” said Vincent. “Apparently the more languages you learn before 25, the more languages you can easily comprehend and have at your disposal later in life.” He is already fluent in American Sign Language, knows a small amount of German and is teaching himself Spanish.
“(Learning Spanish is) not that easy, because all I have is a book and no one to practice with,” said Vincent.
Another thing he has learned is how to be patient. “(I’m proud I was) able to build my patience. It isn’t naturally one of my strong suits,” said Vincent.
He has many goals for the future, including his main goal of acting in films. He plans to build as many skills as he can before he turns 25, on top of his language learning goal. He also wants to get his barber’s certification and become a film hairstylist, before he eventually becomes an actor himself — leaving the future bright for Western’s “Dancing Dude.”
Contact the author at howlnews@mail.wou.edu
