I can vividly recall to this day sitting in Seoul at TXT's concert this past March, tears flooding my eyes as I heard the songs and melodies that brought spring to my winters, and connected me to friendships and relationships that remain close to my heart. My favorite K-pop group is TXT, also known as Tomorrow X Together, and the impact they have had on my life is undeniable. When I became a fan of TXT upon their debut, I enjoyed their music videos and discography because of their diverse exploration of sounds and concepts, but over time, the group came to mean much more to me than their music. They became the flying emblem of my teenage youth. They represented the songs that I listened to in some of the brightest summers, as well as the darkest winters. This past spring semester, I took a daunting step as a freshman in college to study abroad in Seoul, South Korea. Having been a fan of their music and culture for quite some time, the opportunity of getting to live there for 4 months was equally exciting as it was overwhelming. Upon arrival, I struggled with anxiety that seemed to weave its way into every part of my life during my time there. I didn't feel like myself, and it was crushing my spirits. But within the first couple weeks of adjusting to jet lag, I met the person who would change my life completely. My best friend Jo. The entire reason I became friends with her was that we both were TXT fans. Being able to bond over their music, be excited over the new photos the members would put out, celebrate members' birthdays at cafés in Hongdae...connecting with TXT at this time brought me small pockets of joy that made the anxiety feel not so scary. Spending more time with Jo, and being excited for the upcoming TXT concert that was being held in Seoul, truly got me through those rough first weeks. In March, TXT performed at the KSPO Dome in Seoul, and I was lucky enough to win a raffle to see them VIP. This show was the first on their tour, Act: Sweet Mirage, and the first time they unveiled an unreleased song to audiences. The song is titled "Blue Spring." It features lyrics translated such as "My once so chilly world / It blooms into spring at last." Their lyrics represented my time studying abroad in ways I could not communicate myself. The way their lyrics and music thoroughly understood me, wrapped me up, and held me close, is a sensation I am forever grateful to the artists for. TXT has taught me about endurance, self-kindness, and hope. TXT's rising global presence makes me even more hopeful that they can touch the lives of more fans, and that their lyricism relating to growing pains and youth can resonate as much with the world as it has with me. Becoming the 1st K-pop group to headline Lollapalooza in 2023, and performing "Blue Spring" on stage filled me with hope for the future, that more youth can hear TXT's songs and lyrics and experience the members' contagious positivity, and look ahead past hard winters, and see spring.

My proudest resilience in tough times was overcoming isolation in the Covid-19 pandemic. Naturally, the quarantine and social isolation practices utterly warped my communication skills. In my own presence, unable to connect with friends in person, I took to unique ways of ensuring that I stay committed to my friendships all while giving my social battery time to breathe. Through this time away from certain in person friendships, I was able to re-evaluate whether those relationships were fulfilling and healthy on both ends. I learned that I truly love to be in my own presence and go on long walks, just admiring nature. I learned that despite that time I require to be alone, shutting out all relationships during this time was deafening. I called friends and did several projects together, like drawing or bullet journaling my thoughts. These occasional calls redefined relationships for me and made them all the more valuable. Having that bosom friend that you can share your fears with is truly like finding treasure. Susan Cain talked about spending time alone, "Don't think of introversion as something that needs to be cured... Spend your free time the way you like, not the way you think you're supposed to." I learned through the pandemic I must balance personal recharge and spending time with friends. This delicate balance allowed me to care for myself during such stressful times.

The color blue has always been a vibrant hue in my memory and reminds me to enjoy the simple pleasures in my life. It reminds me of childhood and the nature of all the simple things in life. I can remember watching jays in their dapper blue coats nestle on my home’s window frames. Crystalline waves lap in my memory, heaving back and forth in rhythm, reminding me of vacation days when everything was so pure through my youthful rose-colored lenses. I would sit for hours on the beach and simply bask in the colors of the earth, the deep blues of the water, and the cloud-marbled sky above. After long black nights, the sky never fails to stretch into irradiant shades of blue every morning, reminding me of the perfect wheel of existence. I can remember playing under that lapis sky as a child and, even recently, admiring the way the blues complemented the red rocks of the west. In another one of my most solacing novels, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein, Bilbo reflects on his home and what it looks, feels, and tastes like. In his alien and desolate circumstances, he can still taste the warm tea on his tongue and watch as smoke rings simmer under the blue sky. He associates the color blue with security and comfort. As illustrated on page 55 of Tolkein’s The Hobbit, “Far, far away in the West, where things were blue and faint, Bilbo knew there lay his own country of safe and comfortable things, and his little hobbit-hole.” Just like Bilbo here, I adore the vast blues of the sky over my lushly gardened backyard and the intricately painted blue platters on which I always eat nourishing breakfasts of steaming eggs, biscuits, and bacon.