Born in 2000, currently based in NYC but frequently in California and Chicago.
Graduated from the University of Chicago in 2021.
INTP.
what else would you like to know, dear world?
If I had to summarize myself, it would be that I want to relentlessly and unapologetically live this life. Most of my time is spent pursuing creative passions while learning and growing in technical/business skillsets. I want to live this life to the fullest, whatever that might look like.
I’ve spent more of this life in suicidal years than not. For the first 21 years, everyday was a constant challenge. I lived passively, unable to find will or reason to live. Many reasons contributed to how my life began this way but I try to not think about them anymore. After all, recovery is a forward-moving process.
Though I have unfortunately landed in multiple near-death incidents, I also recognize I’m blessed to still be alive and kicking. Maybe that’s why I am so adamant to live everyday to my maximum. I no longer want to find myself staring at the blinding lights of a hospital ceiling, filled with regrets that I didn’t chase my dreams harder while I still could. I’m grateful for the many chances of life I’ve been given, even if I once had difficulty finding that gratitude. I’m privileged to be able to fill everyday with what makes me excited to still be living life.
I’m originally from the Bay Area, California but never really felt a sense of home there. I was always a creative at heart but I was never encouraged to pursue that side of myself in favor of the more technical and quantitative abilities I’m blessed with. After I left to attend the University of Chicago, I was fortunate to meet a variety of people who showed me, by example, what it meant to live everyday without regrets. It meant dedicating all of themselves, their body and time and energy and all, to the things they cared about. And I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be true to who I was. I’m still in the process of learning who that is. It’s been an extremely exciting adventure so far and I cannot wait to keep going.
I spent a few years in Chicago, working as a management consultant advising big banks with big strategies. Sure, it looked like I finally put my Economics degree to good use, but I was still straddling at “I’m doing what society expects me to do but is this truly making me happy?” I decided that I had grown comfortable to Chicago and it was necessary for me to grow up again. I love Chicago, don’t get me wrong. Chicago will always be more of a home to me than the Bay. But I wanted to create a home within myself by finding who I am.
And here I am now, in Brooklyn, New York. I think I’ll stay here for a while – this big city and concrete jungle is truly the land of opportunity and meeting new people. I’ve always been a bit more introverted and reserved in nature, but this place makes me want to create a community. Maybe it’s because I’ve never found the people who feel like me – I’ve felt like a fish out of water more frequently than I have in a pond of my own people. For the first time, NYC has provided me with so many people that I’ve been able to find the many communities which lend themselves as a home to me as I build my own home of the people from those various communities.
What are some of those communities? It’s still been a challenge finding people who have the exact same combination of passions as I do, but I feel like I’m also finally meeting people who come closer than I ever have. People who are just passionate in general, and people who I can learn from. People who make me want to pursue what I do even deeper and bring it to greater depths.
I’m passionate about a lot, and I have to thank the past version of me for doing something about feeling like a fish out of water. I have to thank past me for taking the leap of faith in myself and letting myself just try something new. Whether it’s with moving to NYC, starting my brand Karepango, being vocal about mental health and my experiences… my life is a story of all the bets I’ve made on myself, and this version of myself that I’m learning and building from each one.
I’m always building that community around me of those who also feel the same drive to create something new in this world. I love meeting people who are kind and curious with what they care about. I love meeting people who have something they care about. If that’s you, I want to meet you.