Year of the Tiger

Posted byannievogelPosted inCollege, Dear AnnieTags:, , ,

Happy Lunar New Year! This is a special year because it is my year – Year of the Tiger – so all you fellow 1998 babies better be celebrating with me! As I reflect on what good fortune this year may bring, I am reminded of the last Year of the Tiger in 2010, when I was eleven years old, and how much has happened since then. I started and graduated from both high school and college for goodness sake. And I know living in Washington, D.C. was not even a twinkle in my eye at eleven years old! Without getting too far into the details, these past twelve years have been filled with experiences, good and bad, that I would not trade for anything the world.

March 2014. Flute dance.
August 2012. Peacock dance.

Growing up practicing the Chinese culture and celebrating Chinese New Year was a blessing beyond my understanding. I was so passionate about it even at such a young age. It not only taught me so much about the Chinese culture, but implicitly it taught me to have passions. To love something greater than myself. To remember my roots and where I came from. These life lessons shaped me, and I am all the better for it. Finding a passion and committing to it wholeheartedly is the essence of who I am now. Without passion, there is nothing.

I am reminded now of my college application essay, which centers around this very topic. As I reread the essay, I am taken back to when I was 18 years old on the cusp of life. In the essay in which I am sharing an excerpt below, I describe what it means to be a Tiger as well as my experience as a Lion Dancer. Although so much has changed since my senior year of high school, I can still sense that same fire that continues to burn in me. The passion for life truly has not died since then, even though middle school and high school were ROUGH for me. However, rereading this essay has put me back in that place of hope and excitement because I didn’t know what my future held. I have been taken back to that place of longing to experience the world on my own terms, and if eighteen-year-old Annie could see me now, I just don’t think she would believe how good life has turned out to be!

March 2015. Chatting with my little friend before our performance.
March 2013. My first advanced Lion Dance performance. (That’s me holding the head!)
March 2015. My sister and I posing before our ribbon dance performance.

I truly believe this essay is one of the best pieces of work I have written to this day, for it has not only rekindled my love for writing, but also has given me a much-needed reminder of my roots, my blood, my culture. Wishing you good health and good fortune this year! 新年快乐!

A Tiger Becomes a Lion

In late May of 1998, the Year of the Tiger, in the small city of Beihai, China, a set of twin girls were born. It was a miracle…


I first started Lion Troupe when I was eight years old. As the years went on, my commitment to being a lion grew, as did my passion for performing…


In the Chinese culture, those who were born in the Year of the Tiger are considered powerful, but at times almost terrifying. Lions, on the other hand, are considered protectors of the Chinese people, for
they ward off evil spirits each year and bring about good luck. The Tiger in me has made me a brave leader and a powerful individual, yet the Lion who I grew to become has made me a humble protector of my culture and a committed sharer of my passion. The Lion in me has transformed me into an individual who can show her gratitude by sharing the one thing that makes her heart beat so strongly.

Published by annievogel

I am originally from Long Island, New York. Now, I live and work in D.C. at as an acoustic consultant. I graduated from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. with my bachelors of mechanical engineering in May of 2020. I love living in D.C. because it is smaller than New York City (where I basically grew up), so it was easy to get around. There is always something fun to do all day, every day. I have a few blog posts up about my time at Catholic University, and I plan to write a lot more! If there is one thing that you remember from reading this, it should be that I love spending quality time with friends and family. They are my support system, and I would not be the woman I am today without each and every one of them. Simply put, they mean the world to me. I am also a faithful Catholic and have a passion for music and art. I play the piano, guitar, ukulele, kalimba, and I sing! When I started this blog, I was back in New York due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of my campus. My sister and I published a few episodes of our podcast called The Chirp at the beginning of the summer, but when we both started working, it become difficult to manage. I started this blog in August of 2020 because I was looking for a new recreational project that would stick. So, here’s to a new start!

Leave a comment