.359 | to Cat Victoria, from Karis Wong

I try my best to communicate gratitude with people I talk to regularly, so for this project, I decided to express gratitude to someone I actually haven’t had the chance to connect with in years. While working as a Community Assistant at UC Irvine, I went through a rough period in life. It was the culmination of a breakup from a long-term relationship, family challenges, self-doubt, and anxiety. I found myself struggling to get through each day and each hour. My boss at the time, Cat Victoria, could tell I wasn’t doing well. I had had conversations with her about how I had badly injured my ankle, which kept me from my stress reliever and source of consistency--running. Cat was part of an exercise “bootcamp” and she encouraged me to join the bootcamp. While she told me I could just participate in all exercises that didn’t stress my ankle, I was hesitant to spend some of my limited student income on an exercise program. Even more so, I felt so stuck in life that I didn’t have the motivation to try anything new. Shortly after expressing this to Cat, she gifted me a month's membership to her bootcamp. She took all the pressure off of me and told me I could use it whenever I felt ready, or not use it at all. I was shocked by her thoughtfulness. I actually decided to start my first month of bootcamp that week. I fell in love with it. It created structure in my day with a consistent activity every morning, offered a community that welcomed me in, and helped me become mentally and physically healthier. Cat’s act of kindness and generosity was a catalyst to a myriad of significant changes in my life. I don’t know if I would be where I am today without her. After graduating from undergrad, I was eventually able to become a physical therapist and professor, specializing in pelvic health. Now I strive to remember Cat’s kindness and “pay it forward” to my students and patients. Cat, while we haven’t spoken in years, please know that I am so grateful for you.