First Blog Post.

Introductions Motivations Background

5-minute read.

If you have not already read the ‘About’ page, allow me to provide context for my goals and motivations for this site, share my background, and explain the source of my voice.

I am a 24-year-old, Wasian-American, young professional in the consulting industry who just started a blog focusing on lifestyle, culture, food & drink, and art. Very original - I know. I’m just like every other young adult trying to share their voice on the internet and gather an audience. Except that’s where I differ. I have no intention of sharing this site nor gathering an audience. I intend to share my lived experiences, struggles, and voice to the void of the internet with the possibility that someone could stumble across this and maybeee learn from the life I’ve lived. And if you’re sitting there thinking to yourself, “What could I possibly learn from a 20-year-old-something that has barely even scratched the surface of life?” You would be right.

I am just beginning to find my voice in life and exploring the various possibilities to express emotions, experiences, and perspectives. This is a continuous process that I aim to share on this platform. And on that note, let’s start with how I’ve become motivated in my life to start a mediocre blog.

To get there, we need to take a look into my upbringing and academic experiences. Like many Asian Americans, I grew up taking the necessary steps to ensure success in school and University, which would hopefully lead to a successful career. For example, going to the dreaded academic After-School programs geared to help in mathematics and reading, for me it was Kumon. Looking back, it was a necessary catalyst in shaping my studies, but at the time it felt like a prison sentence preventing me from my true passions: baseball and reruns of Seinfeld.

I played the trombone for a few years and tried to learn the piano, but that lasted only for a few months. This was the extent of my artistic expression in my youth. Apart from the creative writing courses in school or the one-off sketch class, I took at the local art museum, I never pursued artistic or creative expression. This trend carried into high school with my purposeful avoidance of any art classes and filling up my schedule with any other type of extracurricular. At the time, I felt that creative outlets weakened my academic and professional resume. I took the standard approach of enrolling in the top classes to get into a top school and a stable career. I would not say that I excelled in school growing up but I performed decently for the opportunities that were given to me.

After High School, I attended a Big Ten University where I studied Economics with a Math Emphasis and Data Science. My free time was spent studying, going out with friends, or attending club meetings that I convinced myself that I would like at the beginning of every semester. My weekends and evenings were always full of study or the casual bar crawl to the same five bars. The path I chose was straightforward, lined with classes designed to secure a job that promised a stable, upward trajectory. And that's exactly what unfolded—a predictable, safe route to a high-achieving career and a stable life. Typical.

I am very grateful for the opportunities that I was given from my upbringing and through the connections I’ve made, but as I sit at my desk job I can't help but question if this is all I have left. Surelyyyy there is something else that will fall into my lap and lead me to the promised land. RIGHT?

Unfortunately, it took me an embarrassing amount of time to discover that I can’t just wait to find my passions in life, but I have to actually put effort into trying things in the increasingly scarce free time that I have.

The adult world is not forgiving when it comes to any free time that is available. Responsibilities add up, work is endless, and we only have two days out of the week with somewhat guaranteed freedom. But of course one of those days will be taken to chores or resting from the week’s toll. You could be a ball of energy but good luck, that’ll come bite you in the following week(purely speaking for myself…my body is tired).

Now with this one day of true freedom, I feel like it's only natural to want to try every possible thing that I can get my hands on. Pottery? I’ll get on that wheel. Cooking paella? I’ll surely try. Holding a Falcon? I’ll wear a glove. I want to get a little taste of everything, a dabble one could say. Now I can go on and on about the different activities and experiences I would like to try. But for the sake of my own dwindling attention span, I’ll keep it short.

Artistic expression is something that I would like to truly get dirty and sweaty with. Finding my voice through different mediums, but focused primarily on writing(this substack). The vulnerability that inherently comes with exposing my inner monologue to the world is overwhelming…I think. Through my trials and dabbles of life, I want to share my personal experiences. As we already know, I don't have a great history in the arts, but the idea of exposing myself(my writing) on the internet at this time of my life never felt so right.

To be cliche for a moment, I’d like to share this quote from my favorite rom-com of all time, When Harry Met Sally, to express how excited I am to finally get this blog started: "I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible". The realization to begin this creative endeavor is something I feel can not wait any longer, and in that way, Harry and I are the same.