Lost in a country I couldn't call my own and with few ways to communicate; I was anxious and overwhelmed as a 12-years old Japanese girl in the U.S. The difficult times of my life have been from adjusting to the constant change in my environment, having to move to the East, South, and Midwest of this country due to my father’s job. Yet in these challenging times of my life, I always managed to find my confidence and my place through music. I got involved with various musical activities wherever I went, and music became my method of communication and expression, helping me overcome challenges I’ve faced. As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “Music is the universal language of mankind.” My experience with music speaks for this belief. When I began planning for my future, my experience with music interested me to help people in need with the power of music. I quickly found out about music therapy, and I was amazed by its efficacy across various populations ranging from clients with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s Disease, mental health disorder or intellectual and developmental disability, or hospital settings working with pediatric patients or even NICU patients. Upon learning about music therapy, I knew what I wanted to study. Western Michigan University caught my eye as they have one of the top music therapy programs in the U.S. Just as I started building my dream, I found out that my family had to move back to Japan. Although music therapy as a profession and the education is not as advanced in Japan as it is in the U.S. To follow my dream, I had to stay in the U.S. Initially, my usually supportive parents were against the idea mainly due to the financial hardship. Yet, I have managed to convince them by acquiring a music scholarship to cover half of my tuition and promising to get more in the future. Currently, they support my dream and education, though the financial tension has been increasing especially because of inflation in the U.S. and the drop in Japanese currency. I deeply admire Maggie’s diverse skill set and intellectual boldness. As for myself, last spring, I was offered a role as a featured saxophone soloist with Redline Percussion. They are a group of 50 members well known in the percussion world as a continuous Michigan champion and a six time world class finalist. It was an honor but a big challenge to be part of this famous group. Yet, through this experience I discovered the power my performance had on people, inspiring and exciting thousands. I realized that music performance could be another powerful tool to create change in others' lives, which led me to pursue a double degree in music performance. Academically, I have kept a GPA of 3.9 since high school, I’m in honors college, I’m on a Dean’s list of scholastic achievement, and I am a part of Alpha Lambda Delta, the national honor society. My goal is to go back to my home country, Japan, and play a role in increasing awareness and access to music therapy in Japan. To do so, I plan to gain experience as a music therapist in the U.S. and continue my education here to develop the expertise needed to train and inspire future music therapists in Japan with high levels of knowledge, skillset, and motivation. Just like Maggie's devotion and expertise in her passion, my ambition is to contribute to the advancement and recognition of music therapy in my home country.