Being the first in my family to go to college has been difficult, to say the least. I often feel guilty for leaving my family for school, as I get to live what I see as the American dream: Having a college education. However, my family has become my drive to succeed/do well in school. I am a current rising 3rd-year undergrad student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music pursuing a degree in Viola Performance. Throughout my musical career thus far, I have performed at Carnegie Hall, The Dolby Theater, and the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards alongside Camilla Cabello, Ben Platt, Cyndi Lauper, Misty Copeland, and Common, to name a few, which have driven me to pursue classical music professionally. Upon finishing a master's degree, I hope to join a professional orchestra and work closely with organizations that provide music education for low-income families. Growing up, I attended said low-income organizations as private lessons, an instrument, etc. were just not something I had access to because my family could simply not afford it. By working with teachers who believed in me, and attending a Saturday Conservatory of Music throughout my youth, I was able to secure a spot at a prestige college Conservatory. Throughout high school, I would tutor for music theory classes every Saturday to help pay for the classes I would take at the said organization. Having the opportunity to teach and help others who were in a similar situation as me, allowed me to cherish every opportunity a thousand times more. Said teaching experience has also prompted me to open up my own teaching studio, where I currently have 4 private viola students whom I give lessons at a reduced price as private lessons can range anywhere between $50-$150 per hour. If chosen for this scholarship, I would use the money to pay off my student debt that has accumulated since being in college as I have reached the max scholarship my school can offer me. Aside from teaching private lessons, I also work in retail to help pay for school, and with Master's degree program applications approaching next year, this scholarship would help tremendously as I would like to shift my focus on said applications. Throughout my last two years of school, It has become increasingly difficult to juggle two full-time jobs, school, etc. and this scholarship would help me ease my way into my third year of college.

Having a career in the arts has always been something special to me. As a musician, I not only get a clean canvas to paint on every time I pick up my instrument but I also get to use the outcome of my art to advocate/inspire others! Advocacy for underserved minority communities is easily a main factor in my drive to keep going as I also come from an underprivileged community in Los Angeles, CA. Throughout my career as an artist, being able to utilize my passions has been something I have enjoyed! Already, I have put on concerts at elderly homes, youth centers, and more! However, I plan on expanding this work to help introduce classical music to more minority groups, as we often feel that classical music is not for us because there is little to no representation in this field. I also plan on pushing classical music/musicians to more mainstreams platforms to help show younger audiences that classical music is not just music you can fall asleep too. I plan on doing this by bringing the term "influencer" into the classical music field to help promote other artists and myself. Individuality is something all artists strive for, and being able achieve that is the ultimate goal! I believe in my individuality as an artist comes from how I look at art and the music I create. As a musician you value the music itself, but I believe its more than that. I not only value the music but I value the artist, whether they are myself, peers, mentors, etc. I believe in this because no musician will play the same piece the same, and no musician will sound the same on the same instrument. We create stories through the artistic decisions we make! More crescendo here, more rubato there, its all different, and that is what I believe makes me different as an artist. Overall, having a career in the arts is important to me because I hope to inspire other Bi-poc to enter the classical music field and be the representation I never had! This is important as the internal struggles of being the only brown kid in the orchestra are real, but with time and perseverance I was able to overcome these obstacles. I hope that the future of classical is more diverse and I am proud to say that I am already apart of that process.

Throughout my career as an artist, being able to utilize my passions has been something I have enjoyed! Already, I have put on concerts at elderly homes, youth centers, and more! However, I plan on expanding this work to help introduce classical music to more minority groups, as we often feel that classical music is not for us because there is little to no representation in this field. In doing so, I hope to work with mainstream orchestras and further develop their efforts to bring classical music to underserved minority communities, as their efforts often feel performative a majority of the time. I also plan on pushing classical music/musicians to more mainstreams platforms to help show younger audiences that classical music is not just music you can fall asleep too. I plan on doing this by bringing the term "influencer" into the classical music field to help promote other artists and myself.

The biggest influence in my life has been my family! Most families usually discourage their children from pursuing a career in the arts, but thankfully my family has supported me the entire way. From driving me to multiple weekend rehearsals and concerts, to listening to me talk about how Tchaikovsky is better than Brahms. Being the first in my family to go to college has encouraged me to keep going because I not only want to do it for myself, but for my family as well. Throughout my career as an artist, being able to utilize my passions has been something I have enjoyed! Already, I have put on concerts at elderly homes, youth centers, and more! However, I plan on expanding this work to help introduce classical music to more minority groups, as we often feel that classical music is not for us because there is little to no representation in this field. I also plan on pushing classical music/musicians to more mainstreams platforms to help show younger audiences that classical music is not just music you can fall asleep too. I plan on doing this by bringing the term "influencer" into the classical music field to help promote other artists and myself. Individuality is something all artists strive for, and being able achieve that is the ultimate goal! I believe in my individuality as an artist comes from how I look at art and the music I create. As a musician you value the music itself, but I believe its more than that. I not only value the music but I value the artist, whether they are myself, peers, mentors, etc. I believe in this because no musician will play the same piece the same, and no musician will sound the same on the same instrument. We create stories through the artistic decisions we make! More crescendo here, more rubato there, its all different, and that is what I believe makes me different as an artist. Overall, I hope to inspire other Bi-poc to enter the classical music field and be the representation I never had! This is important as the internal struggles of being the only brown kid in the orchestra are real, but with time and perseverance I was able to overcome these obstacles. I hope that the future of classical is more diverse and I am proud to say that I am already apart of that process.