EPCC students bond through shared love of K-Pop

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — What started as a small moment in class turned into a meaningful friendship for two El Paso Community College students, and it all started with a water bottle.

Bella Tate covered her water bottle with stickers of different Korean pop bands. The personalization caught Katelyn Ward's eye.

Ward said starting college felt overwhelming, especially because she struggles with social anxiety.

“I saw that she had stickers of different K-pop bands, and I was like, so scared to talk to her," Ward said. "But I was like, you know what? I’m going to talk to her. So we met over a water bottle.”

Tate said she shared a classroom with Ward, but they never spoke.

“I was sitting at the far left and then she was all the way at the far right in the back,” Tate said.

Later that day, Ward reached out to Tate through an online group chat to compliment her water bottle. Tate said the connection grew from there.

The conversation quickly turned to their shared love for K-pop, particularly the group BTS.

For Ward, the friendship made a big difference.

"The different friendships that I've had, they didn't really like the stuff that I liked," Ward said. "And they judged what I liked."

For Ward and Tate, their shared love for K-pop helped them connect in a way they didn't expect.

“It made me feel more confident by her liking the same thing as me and I wouldn’t feel judged at all,” Ward said. Having Tate in her life just made it "so much better."

Both students say their story shows how shared interests — even something as small as a sticker on a water bottle — can help people connect and form friendships.