My Dad recently passed away on Friday, February 28th, 2025. He was 81 years old so he lived a long life, but not long enough. It’s currently shaping my life, having to adjust to living, breathing and going on without my favorite person in the world. This last week has been incredibly hard for me. My dad was my rock. He was the only parental figure in my life that has shown me the power of being calm and collected, to understand my emotions, feel through them and express them in healthy ways. He taught me to read and shared a love for books with me that i will cherish forever. Many dreams i had died with him on Friday. I have to accept the fact that he won’t be able to physically be there and see me graduate college or walk across the stage. He won’t see me get engaged, married, or walk me down the aisle and he won’t be there to see me have my first child one day. It has been so painful knowing i’ll have to adjust all of my future around his absence but i have been doing my best to stay strong and power through. He was a tough man, yet very kind hearted. He always knew what to say, when to say it, and exactly what to do to make any situation right. I plan to take everything he taught me and use that knowledge to the best of my abilities. If there is an afterlife, i know he will watch me hit all these milestones from where he is and he will be proud of me. He would want to stick it out through all the pain and keep on pushing towards my goals. He has always been such a dedicated and supportive father, the person i’d call for any inconvenience whether it was big or small and he would help me however he could. I can still feel his support and love. I will take that feeling with me wherever i go. I still need my dad and although he’s not physically here anymore, I have to hold him in my heart. This is still a very fresh and recent loss for me. I’m still going through the motions and early stages of grief and loss. I’m not yet sure how this will shape my life in the long run but i plan to start therapy soon to help sort out how i feel and gain coping mechanisms for what is to come next, whatever that may be. Losing my dad, so far, has been one of the hardest losses i have ever had to go through and yet, I will keep going. Not only for him, but for myself. He would want me to be successful, happy, and at peace. I will give him the peace in knowing that I will achieve all three.

I have been to fifty or more concerts so far as a 26 year old woman. I love music and love the energy/ atmosphere of a live show. It is my biggest passion in life. So much so that I plan to be a professional concert photographer and eventually become a music venue owner. My first concert was actually Warped Tour in 2015 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. My main goal at the time was to see Black Veil Brides, Bebe Rexha, Metro Station, Asking Alexandria, Attila, and Pierce the Veil live as well as meet members from the Youtube Channel “My Digital Escape”. It was an amazing experience while it lasted. Unfortunately, I didn’t prepare myself for the heat that day and ended up needing to go to the first aid tent during the BVB performance. Once I felt better, I carried on with my music festival activities. I got pictures with members on MDE and Metro Station. I was also able to have a short conversation with Bebe Rexha about how she sold a song of hers to Eminem featuring Rihanna that became very popular. My favorite concert memory is a tie between recently going to Lollapalooza to see the Kpop group “Stray Kids” last month and going to see Bad Omens in September 2023 for the second time. Both concerts were held in Chicago so it was also a roadtrip/travel experience for me as I live in Detroit. Stray Kids and Bad Omens are two of my favorites so i had an absolutely amazing time. The insane mosh pits and crowd surfing was what made Bad Omens such an exciting experience. I went with a friend of mine and it was her first concert. Her and I went hard in the pit! We locked arms and spun around which is something I had never done in a mosh pit before, though i’d seen others’ do it plenty of times. It was so fun! Bad Omens songs I feel are made for mosh pits. When the beat dropped, all hell broke loose in the best of ways. As for Stray Kids, they happen to have an insanely loyal fanbase. The crowd harmonizing with the songs before they even came out on stage was something you can only wish to experience. It was beautiful. I’ve been to a bunch of concerts in my life but I have never seen a crowd go as crazy as they did when that group came onstage! For the last song they played, fireworks went off above the stage, making it completely magical. I didn’t realize how much of a super fan I could be until I seen Stray Kids perform. I lost my voice that day and wouldn’t have it any other way. Both of these live performances made me feel a euphoria I have never reached before. Being at a concert, being in the crowd, feeling the energy, excitement and pure joy all around me.. that is my true happy place. Being able to go to concerts, festivals, and raves is something I live for, without exaggeration. I am going to attach a photo of myself crowdsurfing at a Motionless in White concert as well as one of the coolest action shots I have ever taken which was at a Palaye Royale concert. I have seen MIW live seven or eight times so far and it is also one of my favorite bands. I also plan to see Palaye Royale for a second time next month! I used a collage app to be able to submit both pictures.

In the last 4 years, I have grown to love the K-Pop music scene/culture and over this time period, my favorite K-Pop group has become Stray Kids. This group consists of 8 men named Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Felix, Han, Seungmin, and I.N. I didn’t realize how much they would have an impact on my life and my mental health journey when i first started listening to their music. Throughout the years of watching their interviews, 2 kids room, Channie’s room, clips on YouTube & Instagram and their live streams, I have just gained huge respect and love for them and the effort they put into connecting with their fanbase. Through the screen, i got to know these 8 (once 9) men and their personalities and see them grow into who they are now. Each member of Stray kids spreads love and positivity anytime they’re in the public eye. The moments of motivation and inspirational talks they give to us Stays has helped me greatly throughout many moments in my life. Anytime I was feeling down, going through life’s circumstances, or just needed a bit of guidance and positivity, I would turn to them and without fail, Stray Kids has put a smile back on my face. They recently shot into global fame with being the first K-Pop group to be invited to the Met Gala this year, 2024. From the beginning of 2024, this group has been doing their part to improve the world on a global scale in any way they can outside of music, seemingly starting with donating to various charities. One of the members of the group, Felix, recently became the youngest member of UNICEF’s Honor Club after donating over 100 million won to help children in Laos. He’s also a member of the Save the Children's Honors Club and has been making recurring donations since 2020. Lee Know donated 100 million won to World Vision in January to help support their global food crisis response project. Even Hyunjin has donated 100 million won to The Snail of Love, helping support people with hearing impairments. All members of Stray Kids have been seen/photographed wearing shirts, pins, bags, rings, and earrings that are purchased in support of various charities and causes around the world as well as all participating in JYP EDM, which was a campaign by JYP Entertainment to join hands with the Make-A-Wish foundation to contribute in EDM (Every Dream Matters). Bang Chan often talked about mental health, anxiety, and even self-harm in Chan’s Room. It was a huge source of comfort for me and made me feel like I wasn’t alone. Stray Kids has also made songs in relation to global problems. For example, 3RACHA created the song, “Domestic Banana” which talks about climate change and global warming. There are also many Stray Kids songs relating to mental health. Mirror was written to help with self-reflection and recognize your inner strength. I am You was written to help remind you to find yourself in life’s chaos. Hellevator was written about the struggle of being trapped in your own mind. Awaken and Phobia are both about confronting your inner fears and anxieties. Finally, My Pace was written to remind listeners that it is perfectly okay to move at your own pace in life. These songs and this group has helped me get where I am today. I’m currently learning Korean and will be attending Lollapalooza this year to see Stray Kids in concert. I’m in college to pursue a business in the music industry and K-Pop was a huge inspiration for this decision.