Singeing Star
Katie Punsly and I have one of the strangest friendships imaginable. A few years ago, she said to my best friend, “You know, I am so convinced that there is no Jefferey [sic] Tsao at all, and people just talk about him all the time to mess with me.” That was before she ever saw me at school, but through these few years we've helped each other out in an undeniably mutual-learning-experience kind of way. We like to hold each other's faults in plain sight while quietly admiring those (annoyingly, she'd add in jest) endearing traits. When my ego needs a swift kick, she's quick on her feet as if she were an eager foe, but I have not once suffered from or resented it. I am learning to appreciate how she pushes aside the the walls of immaturity I sometimes build without invoking the slightest bit of animosity.
Our personalities clash and complement interestingly, but it is no miracle of social chemistry that she is able to affect me in those ways. Katie is the sort of communicator who delivers messages with meaning unshaded by doubt, simultaneously delivers reason and clarity and demands it by example, and somehow combines those straightforward skills with the art of wit. Since I turn into a self-righteous, defensive adamant when faced with incontrovertible arguments, I cannot comprehend the depth and breadth of her prowess with language. A giveaway is holding a textual conversation with her, where the grammatical severity of an English teacher meets the smiling sarcasm of a friend. Her wit effortlessly ranges from inscrutable female intuition to sarcasm of the eye-closing, head-shaking, shuddering-from-my-spine degree.
Wielding language so keenly, Katie quickly leads me to realizations of truths I would have never discovered in my bumbling self-expression. To me, she is mentor, teacher, advisor, admirer, rival, taunter, joker, and I daresay, kind of like a sister—but simplest of all, she is my friend. She demonstrates the utmost tact and concern, especially in social contexts, and is mindful of not only appearances but those all-important actions. She withholds information when prudent but is not afraid to be honest, clothing stark facts and questions in plain, yet beautiful statements.
I sense that I wax sentimental in my lyric. Katie Punsly is someone who refuses to be labeled with one stupidly grinning virtue. Talking with her makes me think critically about myself in an utterly new way, and her inimitable role is truly invaluable. I can only hope to keep some part of this as she proceeds to ever greater heights with talent I have not, and I know she believes likewise.
-Jeffrey Tsao