Having grown up in a very musical family, I do not remember a time when music was not a part of my life. However, it was only in my junior year in high school that I started to realize how much joy music truly brought me. I started piano when I was five—my mother is an MTNA certified teacher and active member of DSMTA, so I was very active with music from a young age. I would practice and go to my lessons, and I really liked it, but I never imagined myself doing much with it in a career or academia. I did the solo and theory festivals with DSMTA, but was never enthusiastic about performance or theory. Music was always just a hobby for me. But in high school, I started teaching piano lessons to beginner students—something which I enjoyed much more than I expected. In teaching others about piano, I started to better appreciate it myself. In sharing piano with others, I found myself enjoying it more. Then, during the days of quarantine, I started teaching myself ukulele, accompanying myself as I sang my favorite songs. I then taught myself guitar and spent hours at a time sitting in my room singing, learning, and making music. Music was no longer just a hobby, but a real highlight of my day. My love for music grew all the more and I picked up a fourth instrument, the lever harp. I then started singing as lead cantor at my church—it was then that I concluded that my favorite musical outlet was the one tied to my Catholic faith. By the time I applied for college, I knew I wanted to major in music. I was thinking I might pursue a career in music therapy, where I could share my love of music with those who would benefit so much from it. Or perhaps I might go to graduate school and study liturgical music. I kept these ideas in the back of my mind as I started college. My first semester, I took voice lessons for the first time and fell in love with singing all over again. Within the music major, I decided to focus on voice performance. I knew music was something I was going to be doing for the rest of my life—but at that time, I was feeling less and less inclined to pursue music therapy or go to graduate school. Eventually, I found myself being pulled in a different direction—a very unconventional direction. At this time, I began feeling drawn to join religious life, a form of consecrated life within the Church—what many people understand to be nuns. Of the various orders, I was attracted to those groups which primarily worked as children’s teachers, especially those which emphasize the importance of music and music education. After much prayer and contemplation, I found immense peace in the idea of following this call. This gave me an entirely new inspiration to continue musical studies—with a music degree, I could join religious life and bring music to children, while at the same time sharing with them the perfect joy and peace that comes from God. I could even continue to cantor and participate in liturgical music, using my voice for a higher purpose. The joy that I find in music is only multiplied when I give it freely, because it brings light to others’ lives as well. As I devote my life to God and live serving others, I hope to impact others through the music I will continue to create and share.