- High School: Mercer Island High School
- Notable achievements: National Merit Scholar Semifinalist
- Post Graduation Plans: Attending University of St. Andrews
- Course of study: International Relations with Psychology
When I was younger, I wanted to be an actress and pop star. I wanted to be famous, andto have my name be on billboards. Never did I imagine I would be happiest and most fulfilled after being absorbed into performing as one of a group of many. From the time I was young, there was not a time I remember in which I did not sing. It didn’t matter if I was happy, excited, nervous, or just in the car driving home with the radio on. In response to this — and likely to get me out of earshot for a while — I was enrolled in SGC in 3rd grade. Before joining, I learned songs by ear from either a CD or the radio. But at choir, I learned how to read sheet music and perform songs I had never actually heard before.
Choir not only introduced me to incredible new people, many of whom would become my best friends, but also new ways of learning, and languages I had never been exposed to before, such as Swahili, Norwegian, and Latin. In addition to learning the pronunciation in order to sing in these languages, our directors would often take us through the meaning of a piece. I would try to figure out what one word could mean while listening to the translation, and sometimes I was even right!
It was incredibly empowering for me to be able to decipher the meaning of these new words. I started to notice these patterns in choir songs, between Latin, English, Spanish and French words, and then later in Italian, too, and I felt like I had cracked some secret code. I started to learn whatever language I could get my hands on, including Korean, German, Czech, Welsh, and Arabic, as well as continuing my school studies in Mandarin.
Looking back at my start to choir, I realize that while I always loved singing, what truly intrigued me was learning that very first new language: music itself. It opened the door to other languages and cultures which has been the foundation of my love. The ability to communicate and relate to ever more people has always been a dream of mine, even since I only thought it was possible by being someone famous. Through music and language, though, I have learned that I can do this without having to go through the trials of fame. This has made music the single most universal and impactful first language I could have ever chosen to learn.