There is a moment that happens in music a split second where a person stops thinking and starts feeling. I have watched that moment happen in the eyes of children who had every reason to shut the world out, and it changed the way I understand my purpose. I am a young entrepreneur, a creator, and someone who believes deeply that healing and opportunity should not be reserved for the privileged few. My clearest expression of that belief has been my work teaching music to homeless and foster youth children navigating some of the most painful and disorienting circumstances a person can face. In rooms where words often fell short, music became the language we shared. And in teaching it, I didn't just give them an instrument. I gave them a voice. Trauma has a way of silencing people. It teaches children to shrink, to distrust, to disconnect from the very parts of themselves that make them human. Social norms often compound this we live in a society that struggles to sit with pain, that moves quickly past the uncomfortable, that too often overlooks the children who fall through its cracks. Foster youth and homeless children are rarely centered in conversations about the future. They are talked about, not to. Helped in ways that serve systems, not souls. I reject that framework. My work with these young people was built on a simple conviction: every child deserves to feel capable, expressive, and seen. Music was the vehicle, but the destination was always dignity. Watching a child master a rhythm they thought was beyond them watching their posture change, their eyes lift, their guard come down is not a small thing. It is the beginning of someone believing in themselves again. Current social norms present real barriers to this kind of work. There is a tendency to address youth trauma through crisis management rather than creative empowerment to stabilize rather than to build. Funding follows systems. Innovation in healing is underfunded and undervalued. As a young woman in entrepreneurship, I also navigate the additional reality that my ideas are sometimes met with skepticism before they are met with support. These norms do not discourage me. They clarify my direction. I intend to spend my life closing gaps. Through my entrepreneurial work, I am building platforms that center young people especially young women and underserved youth in conversations about creativity, confidence, and economic power. The same instinct that puts a drumstick in a child's hand drives everything I build: the belief that access changes lives, and that one person willing to show up consistently can shift a young person's entire trajectory. The future I am working toward is one where youth empowerment is not a charity model but a cultural standard where children in crisis are given tools to create, not just survive, and where the next generation of leaders comes from every zip code and every circumstance. I am already that force. In every room I have entered with intention, in every young person who walked away from our time together a little more whole, I have seen what is possible when someone refuses to accept the limits society sets on who deserves investment. That refusal is not just my philosophy. It is my practice and it will define everything I build from here.

I used to ask my Mom all the time “What is the one thing that you regret not doing when you were younger?” and the one thing she said was not planning out her future. Now I always think about my future and how my decisions shape it. I am a second-generation immigrant from Guyana and ambition has run very deep in my family for generations. My grandparents immigrated to America in 1984 with 5 children for a better life and an aspiration for music. I have been playing Steel Pan for my whole life and doing that has done so much more for me than just learning an instrument, I have learned to have a better stage presence and handle every other mishaps that happens on stage. One of my favorite things to do is learn. I recently discovered this about myself and now I learn as much as I can about new things. The things that I like to learn about vary from history, travel, art, and so much more so I am going to apply that to my future and ambitions. For my future, I aspire to have a career in business and marketing because that is what I can see myself doing every day. My Mother is an accountant by trade and has exposed and inspired me to all the parts of the business industry. She has had the most impact on me and drives me to reach my goals the best way possible and is my biggest inspiration for being an amazing Mother, mentor, and role model. I absolutely love the business industry and the way products go to consumers, the math behind investing, and especially how startups start up. The beauty of the business industry is that it’s not limited to one thing, the people who work in business all have different success and start-up stories and that is why the industry is so diverse. My favorite types of businesses are startups and entrepreneurship because the process of building something from the ground up is so inspiring to see. Even though I know being an entrepreneur is tough and takes a lot of dedication, motivation, and hard work I am willing to put in the work and effort because I love it so much. Planning your future is so crucial to your life and I encourage everyone to do it from a young age. I will continue to aspire to my goals and live to the fullest. I am so thankful that my mom and grandparents came here looking for the American dream so I can live a happy educated life.