My grandmother moved to America after my mother was just born. Leaving her home in Japan and starting a new life in a completely different society with a language she barely spoke left her working days and nights side by side to try and provide for her two kids. My mom grew up in a trailer house where she knew endless struggle, whether it be health, finance, education, etc. I look at my mother today, and she is the strongest person I've ever met; She is my reason for trying my hardest everyday. Despite the arts and music often being seen as an unsteady career, she never once doubted me. I grew up singing, playing piano, creating; Through every step of the way, she was always the first person who would hug me tight and tell me how proud she was. I graduated High School two years early; I applied and was accepted to the college of my dreams, Berklee College of Music, at 16 years old, and I moved to Boston all alone at that age as well. Though the entire time, she was there, smile on her face and eyes that only showed pride, eyes that motivate me every single day I wake up to ensure I do my best, just like she always has. One day, I want to do just as she did: Start my own business, something innovative like a multicultural arts center that has music and art and even language classes that allow us all to express ourselves freely. Art and music move beyond any borders, languages, ethnicities. I will build a place where my community can join together, and maybe people who aren't supported in their artistic dreams can feel that same love that I've felt from my mother my entire life.

If we look at the history of any culture, art and music are what shaped humanity as a whole. A saying we've all heard many times is "Music is the language in which we are all fluent." I have pursued music and art my entire life, so much so that I graduated high school 2 years early at 16 years old just so I could go to my dream college, Berklee College of Music. As a current music student who is constantly surrounded by musicians and artists, all with their own individual styles and stories, I see just how much the arts impact society every single day with my own eyes. I hear the countless heartbroken love songs that we listen to when we're hurting because they make us feel less alone. I walk through my campus and see students gathered in the lobby all smiling and singing because music also has the ability to bring us together, no matter what ethnicity or language. You can even see it statistically. An example would be that K-Pop recently has had such a huge impact globally despite most of that music being in Korean. People listen to music that just makes them feel something, anything, whether it's good, bad, or somewhere in between. There's music in the cars that honk on the streets, in the kitchens where pots and pans bang together, in newborn babies crying, or even in adults crying. Music is all around us 24/7, every minute of every hour. As a professional music major with concentrations in performance and songwriting, I'm asked at least 4 times a semester from multiple different professors to just go outside anywhere and find inspiration. It's really that easy because after a certain point, you realize that, specifically when it's concerning music, there's inspiration everywhere. I also have a minor in psychology, and I have studied first hand the effect that music can have on your brain and releasing endorphins. Music therapy, for example, exists specifically because music has a way of healing that nothing else in the world does. I believe wholeheartedly, that out of everything in this big strange world we live in, music is the closest thing that humans have to magic.