Kyla Ho (10) yawned as she retrieved the pan out of the oven, having woken up at 6 AM to bake the dough she had made the night before. As the smell of freshly baked bread overwhelmed her senses, she smiled, excited to bring it to school and to see her friends’ faces light up as she handed slices out.

Initially, baking was a foreign concept to her. She could only stare in awe at the amazing baked goods she would see others make, daunted to attempt to try it herself.

“My mom and I enjoyed sending each other [videos] of baking,” Ho said. “One Saturday morning after volunteering at my Vietnamese school, I was like, ‘Should I try making bread?’ From there I made my first-ever loaf of bread.”

Ho said her first few attempts didn’t turn out great, due to an expired yeast she was using. She was unaware of this and almost stopped trying entirely because attempt after attempt was unsuccessful due to the yeast.

“I actually almost gave up making bread because of how my loaves were so bad,” Ho said. “But one day after school, I impulsively bought brand new yeast and made my first successful loaf of rosemary focaccia.”
Ho, elated after having figured out the problem she kept facing, began to take up baking as a hobby.

“From there, I gradually started to bake bread and other baked goods,” Ho said. “Originally, I started out with bringing smaller and more portable desserts to school, and I would bake them solely for my close friends who I knew would enjoy them.”

However, baking occasionally for a limited number of people changed when the freshman triathlon came around. A lot of her classmates and friends seemed to be dreading the day and similarly to Ho. Ho decided instead of just baking for her inner circle, she wanted to do something nice for her peers as well.

“I thought to myself, ‘I don’t want to do the triathlon, so let’s make a ton of cookies to not about it,’” Ho said. “I made an absurd amount of lemon crinkle cookies and brought them to school, dividing them up between the two triathlon days. This is where I learned that baking was a way for me to relieve stress.”

Ho said she found the experience of giving out her cookies extremely fun, as she got to feed her friends and people she had never met before. People immediately began coming back for seconds and Ho felt elated about the positive response.

“It was a win-win situation,” Ho said. “I like baking, and who doesn’t like eating free cookies?”

But, she figured out something new from the experience as well: not only did people enjoy her baked goods because of their taste, but also their ability to boost morale.

“I also learned that it can relieve stress for others too,” Ho said. “From handing out so many cookies, I saw people’s moods immediately brighten.”

Anna Tu (10) said she wasn’t feeling well before the triathlon but that receiving Ho’s cookies made her feel much better and helped to change her viewpoint.

“I was kind of tired from school and having to do the triathlon was like another chore,” Tu said. “And when Kyla offered me lemon crinkle cookies, how could I say no? It immediately improved my day to eat some good sweets and I felt so much better after. I still had to do the triathlon, but I felt more motivated.”

This was a turning point for Ho, as what started out as just an occasional hobby, had evolved into something bigger. She widened her range of baked goods: rosemary focaccia, potato bread, artisan loaves, Japanese milk bread, banana bread, brioche, red velvet cupcakes, lemon crinkle cookies, cinnamon buns, scones, and matcha turtle buns with chocolate shells.

“From there, I would bake much more,” Ho said. “I started to bring goods to big events like finals or midterm weeks, for example. But people enjoyed it so much [that] I kept doing it more often. And when 10th grade came around, I would bake almost weekly. Making bread itself is fun enough for me, but giving it to people to cheer them up made me feel really happy.”

Amy Wang (10), who met Ho in their shared 1st-period AP Chemistry class, said Ho’s baked goods always put her in a good mood.

“I feel comforted when I receive bread from Kyla,” Wang said. “When she gives me bread it’s like it’s preparing me for the painful chemistry lesson that I have to endure ahead. In the morning, I’m generally really tired and hungry and that slice of bread wakes me up and makes me feel more energized. There was also a time when I knew I hadn’t done well on a quiz, so I was feeling kind of hopeless. When Kyla gave me a slice of bread afterward, it kept me grounded instead of being in a bad mood for the rest of the day.”

It also helped to strengthen their friendship, as Wang said she felt cared for having homemade goods from Ho.

“Bread is such a simple thing to give to your companions but since Kyla makes it herself, it adds on another level of respect and genuineness,” Wang said. “The reason that Kyla and I first started talking to each other was because of chemistry, but now that she bakes for my table semi-weekly, we are able to talk about other things, extending our relationship with one another from just classmates to friends.”
Tu said that the kind gesture helped to alleviate some of the anxiety she had been having.

“During the beginning of this year, my mentality wasn’t in a very good setting, and when she gave me some cookies, it improved my day,” Tu said.

It was also a morale booster for her as the year became more difficult.
It also brought her closer to Ho, after a long period of non-contact due to COVID-19 and other factors. Through sharing Ho’s food, she also says that it brought everyone in their friend group together.

“Considering how Kyla and I lost touch with each other for quite a few years, I would 100% say that we’ve definitely grown a lot closer due to her baking,” Tu said. “Eating good food with your friends is something that brings everyone closer together, no matter how different people may be from each other.”

Ho continues to bring a variety of baked goods to her friends and classmates, or anyone who is having a bad day in general.

“One of the only reasons I keep bringing it to school and handing it out is because of how other people enjoy it,” Ho said. “In general, I just bring bread with the hope it’ll just somehow make everyone’s day a little better.”