On the 5th of August, I was reborn.

Coming home from a summer camp at Stanford, I stepped in my room for the first time in a month to a shining package on my desk. I had been expecting a dusty room, shut off behind a closed door, neglected by my family while I was gone. But someone had clearly visited, lest this shining package be sent by God himself, which was just as likely.

I tore open the panels of cardboard and unwrapped layer after layer of bubble-wrap. At first I anticipated the identity of this hidden gem by its shape underneath the plastic veil. Then I was certain. By the time all of the packaging had been removed by my trembling fingers, I was so excited that I almost dropped the iconic stainless-steel treasure. Anna oop!

It was my first Hydro Flask.

Immediately, I took out my phone for an artsy photo. Shortly thereafter, posted on my Instagram story was my newly acquired vessel—its full glory occupying the foreground, the background composed with the vivid colors of nature, now desaturated in the presence of greatness, and, of course, my caption: “Cherish life while it remains dent-free.”

I was reborn as a VSCO girl. SKSKSKSKSK.

Of course, my life before this date, the 5th of August, was not completely lost. My hobbies, my interest, my skills, my gender, they all still carried over.

What are these, you may ask? Well, I’ll start off with the easy one—for me, at least: my gender. I’m a guy. Now for my hobbies, interests, and skills; they’re largely intertwined. Whenever I am asked what my hobbies are, I always reply with violin and lifting. Because these two fields are also included within my interests and skills, I will spend this brief introduction describing their presence within my life.

I am in love with the violin. You can call me basic, but whenever I listen to classical, it’s always some violin concerto or solo, particularly Heifetz. While my peers drift about, carried off by the sheer noise of symphonies, I am grounded, electrified, you could say, by the complex interplay of themes within unaccompanied Bach, the beautiful melodies of Brahms, and the eerie tunes of Sibelius. When I’m not listening to these favorites of mine, you can find me drawing a D. Silveira, fleur-de-lis bow over my very own violin. Bought over four years ago from Michael Becker’s Fine Violins (I can attest), my violin, in all its unlabeled, 14.5 inch, imperfect glory, is most definitely the possession I cherish the most. Yes, even more than my Hydro Flask.

When I’m not playing my violin, you can find me hitting the weight room. My lifting journey started long before I became a VSCO girl. It actually began, when it comes down to it, because of peer pressure. But if peer pressure can result in good things, this can be the exemplary case. Any Naperville North high-schooler can recall the first day of PE on the first school day of each year, which though only occurs four times throughout one’s entire high-school career, still manages to feel so routine. It was the beginning of my third year; I sat on the bleachers by between two of my friends, and of course the first question they ask is what PE class I’m taking. When I replied so innocently that I was signed up for Adventure 1, they snorted. “Lameeee,” they said, “we’re taking Strength and Performance!” At the time I had not even heard of that option, but after a day they convinced me to transfer classes. I am still so thankful, because that may have been the best decision of my life. Who would’ve thunk? My lifting journey continues, and most recently it has introduced me to calisthenics, of which I have barely grazed the surface. To learn more, please visit my esteemed colleague Alex Jang’s blog!