Som Ho is my friend, whom I have been friends with since high school. She is the most inspirational person I have ever met in my life.
I call her a "Cotton Swab", or "Som Dongeori". She always somehow seems to be able to overwork and get herself sick. I used to call her by her nickname because I thought it was cute, but as soon as I realized that she was a workaholic who did often ended up in a hospital, I knew my nickname for her was perfect. She seems to smell of sanitized alcohol swabs one can find in the cold, silver, metallic carts at a hospital. She once had to get carted off to the hospital because she did not sleep for an entire week, studying for the exams and doing part time jobs at the same time. She always worries me, yet merrily shouts "I'm fine!" whenever I nag at her. "I'm really fine! I have so many people worrying about me!" she would say.
I have known her for the last 5 years, yet she hasn't changed much, both mentally and physically. She is not that tall. She is about 163 cm. She hasn't grown much. She is skinny, yet somehow manages to look sturdy. I always think that it's her personality that makes her look so strong despite her state. That does not mean that she seems strong enough, however. Her boyfriend always nags on her to gain more weight. He even once offered to work out under the condition that she would eat more and gain more weight.
Som used to have jet black hair, but recently dyed it light brown. It never seems to grow out. She always trims it to a certain length if she thinks it's getting too long. She typically keeps it undone, but ties it into an extremely tight ponytail when she has a reason to keep it up.
When she does not have to work, she attempts to put on makeup, which never seems enough for me. I always fight the urge to pin her down to do the eyebrows for her. She's still pretty in her own way though. She always wears a smile on her face. The sleepy smile that never seems to leave the corner of her mouth makes her seem softer than whatever she actually is. That changes when she starts working, though.
Whenever she works, she wears a pair of thick, brown-framed glasses. Then she takes out her laptop. I get a little scared that she might get sucked into the screen. She does not take her eyes off the screen, squinting in concentration and murmuring words to keep herself alert. She clutches onto the screen of her laptop with her left hand, using her right hand to click away on the mouse. She stares right up whenever I call her, though, with that sleepy smile. She would say "Yesss?", stretching the last syllable, making her sound much more relaxed than whatever she actually is.
She often looks so desperate that people around her, including myself, begs for her to stop. As mentioned, Som does not hesitate to not sleep at all when she decides that she has too much workload and studying to do. She never listens to anyone begging her to stop though, of course. She is a very determined individual. When she decides that she has to do something, she makes it happen no matter what. She does whatever she can do to keep herself motivated and going. I once watched her write about a hundred companies, asking for funding so that she could go to India for the work that she was so desperate to do. This was in high school. Watching her being so desperate always makes me look back on myself. She motivates me to become more passionate.
Som is a good friend, as well as a great listener. I often go to her to talk about my problems for that reason. Although she has achieved so much, she never brags about it. She is always humble about what she has done, and tells everyone that there are people that have achieved more than her.
What's really interesting about her is that she never ceases to use black humor. She often jokes that she is a product of this neo-liberalism society, which is filled to the brim with competition. I personally believe that she says this because it is obvious by her everyday actions and words that she really does not believe this deep into her heart. She often jokes in a very grave tone, but she does not have to explain that this is a joke as long as the people that she is talking with are her close friends, like me or her boyfriend. Her sarcasm, and how she manages to keep the atmosphere light despite the serious topics that she often comes up with never ceases to amuse me.
