DHTH: Vlogging

Last night was a movie,” I said, just as I have every day of my life. As a former filmmaker, filming a prolific amount of American Girl Doll stop-motion films in my living room and amassing a total of 3 subscribers on YouTube, I have plot-writing, editing, and the natural tendency for fame and fortune in my back pocket. Whether it’s planning Homecoming to monthly fundraisers, my job as a multi-large-scale-event planner is never done. I’m like Superman in a 16-year-old girl’s body, but without the supersuit, laser eyes, or the muscles. My presence is demanded everywhere, so anywhere from acceptance videos into summer programs with “Latch” by Sam Smith playing in the background to a “Come With Me to Plan Prom” vlogs could, and will, be content from me.

After years of watching “Day in my Life” vlogs on YouTube and finding comfort in their seemingly perfect, rose-colored lives, I’ve always carried a quiet sense of comparison, measuring my dull and monotonous life against theirs. But just for a second, I want to see my own world through those same rose-colored glasses and ask myself: Is my life truly as boring as I’ve made it out to be? In this DieHard TryHard, I’m going all in to become the next Nicole Laeno, and maybe learn to appreciate the small moments in my life that make it more than just a loop.

Whether it’s spending countless hours playing Brawl Stars at Starbucks or going on side quests with my friend group, I would say my life is quite riveting, to say the least. However, my confidence is at an all-time low for this challenge after my failed attempts at being a renowned YouTuber, live-streaming Fortnite gameplay throughout the pandemic, ended. Hopefully, with my countless years of editing experience and a lingering sense of unfinished business, this DieHard TryHard will potentially be my chance to reattempt my lifelong dream of being a professional vlogger as I document the struggles and utter chaos of cramming three AP courses just days before the exams. 

The first time I watched a Li Ziqi vlog was in 2018 on a Xi’an noodle restaurant’s TV. Her life was amazing – she built furniture and worked in a garden every day, all while looking flawless. Since then, I’ve watched countless vlogs of people doing anything, from dressing in traditional Chinese clothing to working as a lawyer. Despite my mother’s complaints that my time spent on YouTube and TikTok is worthless, I’m sure my visual learning skills have amounted to something. Sure, my editing may be as atrocious as my life is boring, but I do have a 100% DieHard TryHard winning rate. I don’t know what my weekend has in store, but it’ll take me to the top no matter what. 

Please, what a cakewalk. In fact, I cake-walked so Emma Chamberlain and Erica Ha could cake-run. As a naturally humorous person paired with my following of 859 vloggers on TikTok, I was born to take first place. “Demetra Dias” this, “Erika Titus” that, soon you’ll hear “Ariel Duong, TikTok and YouTube’s most followed vlogger of 2025”. However, no matter how big my platform gets or how many New York Fashion Weeks I’ll be invited to after my future as a vlogger takes off, I’ll never forget how comedically wonderful and entertaining Aarav, Emily, and Felicity’s vlogs were and the blissful fifteen minutes I’d spent watching their vlogs instead of studying for APs.

Though I came painfully close, I sadly won’t be biting a gold medal this time. Having earned third and second in past DieHard TryHards, I was aiming to complete the year with a first. While that didn’t quite happen, the experience itself was more than rewarding. In the whirlwind of a day right before my AP World History test, I poured five focus hours into editing my video, fueled by a mix of adrenaline, ambition, and inspiration from the vlogging queens themselves, Millie Liao and Breanna Quan. This experience pushed the limits of my video editing skills, and in the end, I had genuinely enjoyed bringing my vision to life. Gold or not, this experience definitely sparked a new passion in me that I never saw coming.

Somehow, despite having all of the odds against me throughout this challenge, with three AP exams breathing down my neck, I secured third place. Looks like AP exams weren’t the only thing I had failed this week. I can’t believe I fell short throughout this challenge, but considering the intense competition with Ariel, Felicity, and Emily’s vlogs, I’m shocked to not have come in last place. It appears that my first and last DieHard TryHard of this year ultimately ended in defeat. But hey, third place for some washed-up Fortnite montage editor isn’t too shabby to say the least. Sometimes it’s not about the victory but the memorable experiences along the way. Filming this vlog allowed me to reclaim my failed experiences as a content creator.

Fourth place is not the end of the world, but considering that there were only four competitors, this was far from my best showing. Having peaked at number one during my last DieHard TryHard, obviously this loss comes as a disappointment. Honestly, it was expected; maybe my mom was right about my visual learning skills. While exploring vlogging and testing my video editing skills was fun, I don’t see myself vlogging in the foreseeable future, especially because of all the storage space all the footage took in my phone. Maybe I won’t be the next Li Ziqi, but that’s totally alright with me. I don’t need to record every second of my life to live in the moment.