I took violin lessons with my sister when I was very young. For years I studied with a teacher who scared me. She would often make most of her students cry, and would say things like, “you’re lucky we’re not in Korea, I would hit my students on the leg with a stick.” When she suggested I take up the viola at age 12, I jumped on the chance to have a different teacher. I fell in love with both my new teacher and my new instrument.