His eyes focused intently on the sheet music in front of him, Henry Wong (12) begins moving his fingers along the strings of his cello with lightning speed and precision. As he continues to play, his eyes close and he begins to nod his head quickly in time with the notes, letting the music take over. Though the high intensity movements could easily make anyone stressed, Henry’s carefree smile tells another story.

“Usually before a track meet or a cello performance I try to tell myself not to care so much because that really helps me perform better,” said Henry, as a grin spreads across his face. “Maybe its a bad thing, but I don’t think almost at all. I have a lot of stage fright sometimes, so if I’m either focusing on the notes or making my mind completely blank, I really reassure myself and calm myself down.”

On the surface, Henry is often seen as reserved, shy, and sometimes even a little bit moody. However, once he opens up, his goofy personality and laid-back attitude become evident.

“We found him hiding in a locker one time,” said orchestra teacher Dr. Hart, recounting some of his favorite memories with Henry. “Sometimes, he just announces “I’m tired” and will get up from what he’s doing  to go lie down in the practice room. He’s very open and comfortable and that allows others to feel very trusting of him. He really is a cornerstone of what I feel like an orchestra student should be.”

Whether he is running track or performing a cello piece, Henry always remembers to take other’s feelings into consideration, despite whatever issues he could be dealing with at the moment.

“When I first met him, I assumed he was the typical guy who stays up really late, playing video games, which isn’t too far from the truth,” said Noah Lincke (12), one of Henry’s close friends from track, chuckling. “Underneath that, though, he’s a really sweet guy and he’s a really good friend. A lot of people have a rough exterior and that’s about it, but he’s a really genuine person too, and he’ll talk to you about anything. Even after a tough match where he’s super mad and stressed, he can switch over to having a deep, inspiring conversation.”

This stems from an admiration of various role models who are willing to help those around them. He tries to mirror people who use their enthusiasm to positively affect their audience.  Senior Alex Yu, a close friend of Henry’s from orchestra, fondly described Henry’s drive as a cellist.

“He’s put in so much work to improve his technique and to try to get his music to be the best it can be. He applies every little piece of advice that he gets to his playing, no matter how trivial it seems. He’s never scared to ask for help, and even more open to give out help and recommendations,” Alex said.

Henry urges himself to do above and beyond what is required of him, and often faces competition in doing so. He turns his competition into his motivation, though never in a way that puts others down. No matter what he does, always tries to push not just himself, but his friends to the limit.

“He’s competitive. Whenever he gets into something he puts all of his effort into it. He either doesn’t do it or he takes it all the way. There’s not really an in between. I remember when he and another kid from track would run the mile together; they would push each other way beyond what they would have done by themselves, then try harder the next time,” Noah said.

However, everyone deals with hardship and, despite his seemingly perfect demeanor, Henry is no exception. The way that he deals with his problems highlights his perseverance and passion for his work.

“I had a hard time in this computer science course that I took, and all my teachers told me that it would be a bad idea to continue. Even though I didn’t do great, I really loved that I could work with CS get immediate results,” Henry said. “In most of my activities, things take time. In CS, though, anything that’s on my mind I can create. When I’m playing games, I start to think about the stuff I would do if I was the developer, and then realize that I have the ability to actually create it.”

Throughout his years as a performer, player and student, Henry has realized that there’s a common theme in the way he projects himself in his various activities. To him, it is not about what he wins at the end, but about how he makes people feel after seeing him.

“When I interact with people I want to make them happy and I want everyone to have a good time. It’s like when I’m playing cello I want to make the audience feel how I feel when I’m playing music, almost like I’m spreading the feeling that I have,” Henry said. “It’s hard to see sometimes because I’m very shy, but it’s really that interaction, working with other people, that makes me love what I’m doing.”