About the Author

Who am I?

    Hello and welcome to TheBalance! My name is Hiwot Wisotzkey, and I was born in Ethiopia. I was adopted when I was six months old and lived in Lancaster PA for 18 years before moving to Pittsburgh for college. I am the youngest of five children, and I love coming from a big family :)

                      Ethiopia                                                       Lancaster

Why I Care about Fitness:

    Growing up, I played soccer, and I ran track. For a good portion of my life, sports and school were the two most important things to me. However, going into my junior year of high school, I quit all my sports. The two things I enjoyed the most quickly became the two things I never wanted to go to. The competitive nature of sports and the time commitment stopped fulfilling me. 

    After I quit both sports, I started going to the rec center near my house. I had a foundational amount of knowledge from sports and the lifting classes I took in High School, but learning from trial and error as well as watching videos is what taught me the most. I put my beats headphones on and for that hour the only thing on my mind is getting stronger or running farther. Running makes me feel alive and going to the gym makes me feel empowered.