Walking into class with his custom vans, energetic smile and throwing the teacher a high-five, junior Bastian Hincapie lightens the mood of any room he walks into.

Hincapie posted his first video on YouTube in July this year because he wanted to entertain his friends and himself over quarantine. He has put out semi-weekly videos since then, and enjoys both making them and seeing people respond to what he puts out. His videos often just consist of messing around with friends, but his friends say his personality and jokes make the videos exciting to watch.

Hincapie’s content is not strictly structured, but his thumbnail designer, junior Alex Schinkmann-Bonias says that his editor and personality make him different from other YouTubers.

“His personality, the way he introduces each video and the things that they do are pretty simple stuff, like walking around Boston or playing basketball,” Schinkmann-Bonias said. “But they crack funny jokes, [and] his editor makes the videos pretty funny with the transitions and texts.
The activities he does are entertaining to watch.”

Hincapie’s history teacher Sydney Hou also noticed his unique personality and playful energy. She thinks these traits would make him a good entertainer.

“I thought it was funny that he always called me homie. He would be like ‘What’s up homie?’ None of my students call me that. I remember he always came in for a high five or fist bump and then after class he would always do the same thing,” Hou said. “He just always came in with that energy and left with that energy.”

Hincapie said he would be open to pursuing a career as a YouTuber if he is able to grow a big enough audience and profit from it.

Schinkmann-Bonias said he believes this is a possibility, and would want to keep working with him on videos in the future.

“I would love to keep working for him. So far he has over 100 subscribers and he hasn’t done too many videos or been on it for too long. If he keeps going with it, keeps doing what he’s doing, I’m sure he could get somewhere,” Schinkmann-Bonias said.

For Hincapie, his videos provide a way to entertain people and interact with others who have similar aspirations and interests as him.

“I like doing it cause it’s just a way to express myself, and it’s fun to post because people see it. It’s fun to interact with different people that also like what I’m doing and want to do the same things,” Hincapie said.