Mya Julius has been working with cars for the better part of 4 years now. But her passion isn’t about building them. It’s painting and detailing, and using her creativity to give many of these cars a new life.

“It’s kind of like a dance,” Julius said. “Swaying back and forth with the paint. It’s really relaxing to me. I enjoy it.”

While the prep work is fine, once the doors of the paint studio close. That’s where Julius’ best work is done.

While she is just in her first year at Hudson Valley Community College, the freshman has already gotten quite the experience.

“Here I’ve done quite a few bumpers, fenders, couple doors, and then that bike was definitely my favorite,” Julius said.

The bike that she is referring to is a triathlon bike that HVCC professor Chris McNally will be riding this summer in triathlons across the east coast.

“The cars are absolutely flawless when they leave our shop here. So when it came time to re-do the color scheme on my race bike, I knew I had to bring it here for the students to work on,” McNally said.

The first thing you’ll notice is the bright pink color plastered across the bike. The framing is covered with slogans and phrases like the one you’ll see on the right side, which reads “Ask me why?”

“It’s part of a grassroots movement I put together called ‘IOU,’ it’s on us,” McNally said. “The idea behind IOU is to raise awareness of sexual harassment of female athletes.”

McNally says when competitors and fans see his 6-foot-4 frame riding an all-pink bike this summer, he hopes it leads to meaningful conversations.

And to know Julius, one of just two female students in the auto body painting program this year, was the artist behind the bike was “kismet,” as McNally called it.

“We have a female auto body professional working on this bike. It was meant to be,” McNally said.

For Julius, the opportunity to have her work spark a conversation of change is a sign she’s in the right field.

“It means a lot to have the campaign, and for it to be a thing,” Julius said. “Then to be a part of it and to kind of get it rolling and be a part of starting it and getting it out there and showing everyone means a lot.”