Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve cared about advocacy. Whether it was for the environment, social justice, or human rights, I’ve always believed we could make the world better. When I was twelve, I discovered music's ability to express what I want to advocate for and articulate thoughts and feelings words alone could never reach. As Stevie Wonder put it, “music is a language in itself.” So when I was 16, I chased my dream, got accepted to Berklee College of Music, and graduated high school a year early at 17 to pursue my purpose. Today, pursuing that purpose comes with significant obstacles. As a full-time student at Berklee, I receive no financial support from my parents, so I rely on an on-campus job to afford my education. Balancing work with rigorous coursework is especially challenging because my ADHD and dyslexia make assignments take significantly longer than they do for many of my peers. Although these challenges demand more time and energy, they have only strengthened my commitment to earning my degree. I started playing piano a few weeks before COVID and quickly realized I hated the classical music in front of me. My piano teacher insisted I learn “Grandmother’s Lace,” and all I can remember is how much I hated its daintiness and fragility. But my mom still wanted me to play piano every day for 15 minutes. One day, I heard my dad playing a song I liked on guitar and asked if I wanted to play it. I was so confused because I thought piano was only for “boring songs.” My dad told me I could play rock songs on piano. So I sat at the piano, learned the chords by ear, and finally understood why people enjoyed playing music. During COVID, I taught myself different songs. I learned I had perfect pitch, which led me to train my ear. A year later, I started songwriting through a local program and knew it was what I wanted to do. Around the same time, I joined a youth orchestra as a pianist, even though I couldn’t read sheet music. Eventually, I taught myself to read by ear. Then I discovered jazz and fell in love. I fell in love with its culture, history, style, and soul. I knew I needed to play jazz for the rest of my life. The summer after my freshman year, I fundraised to attend Berklee’s 5-Week Summer Program. There, I learned about the work that Terri Lyne Carrington and Esperanza Spalding do for women’s rights in jazz, and it inspired me so much. I’ve since been able to bring twenty-seven different women into the jazz industry, and they’ve all said it improved their lives. Seeing the confidence these women gained reinforced my belief that music can create tangible change. My goal as an artist is to uplift and inspire people. Through the unique language of music, it’s possible to bridge gaps between cultures, lived experiences, and personal values. Music has allowed me to express these values and lift up others. After graduation, I want to become a staff songwriter for pop and R&B artists, collaborating with them remotely and traveling alongside them as they tour. I want to be someone artists can trust as they put words to their experiences and emotions and share their truth with the world. Just as music helped me discover my own voice, I hope to help others discover theirs while continuing to advocate for equity and belonging through the music we create together.

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve cared about advocacy. Whether it was for the environment, social justice, or human rights, I’ve always believed we could make the world better. When I was twelve, I began to discover the possibilities of music to express what I want to advocate for, and articulate every thought and feeling that words alone could never reach. As Stevie Wonder put it, “music is a language in itself”. So when I was 16, I chased my dream, got accepted to Berklee College of Music, and at 17 graduated high school a year early to pursue my purpose. I started playing piano a few weeks before COVID began, and I quickly learned that I hated playing classical music. My piano teacher insisted I learn this song called “Grandmother’s Lace” and I can remember how much I hated the daintiness and fragility in the song. When COVID came along, I was so glad to not play that song anymore. But my mom still wanted me to play piano everyday for 15 minutes. One day, I heard my dad playing a song I liked on guitar and he asked if I wanted to play it. And I was so confused because I only thought piano was supposed to play on what I considered “boring songs”. My dad told me I could play rock songs on piano and it was actually quite normal. So I sat at the piano and learned the chords by ear, and in that moment I started to truly understand why people enjoyed playing music. As COVID continued, I learned I had perfect pitch, which led me to focus on training my ear more. A year later, I started songwriting through a program in my town, and I knew that was what I was destined to do. Around the same time, I also joined a youth orchestra in my town as a pianist. The only problem was, I couldn’t read sheet music. But eventually I used my ear and figured out the correlation between the notes and the lines, and taught myself how to read sheet music. Then I discovered jazz, and I fell in love with music on a whole new level. I learned so much about the culture, the influence, the style, and soul in jazz. It was evident that jazz connected people in a unique way. So the summer after my freshman year, I did some fundraising and attended Berklee’s 5-week summer program. I learned about the work that Terri Lyne Carrington and Esperanza Spalding do for women’s rights in jazz, and it inspired me so much. I’ve since been able to bring twenty-seven different women into the jazz industry, and they’ve all said it’s improved their lives for the better. Overall, my goal as an artist is to uplift and inspire people to live their best lives. Through the unique language of music, it’s possible to bridge gaps between cultures, lived experiences, and personal values, thanks to the uniting power of shared emotions through just 88 pitches. I am eternally indebted to music because of how it has connected me to myself and others. Justice and advocacy have always been non-negotiables in my life. Music has changed my life by allowing me the opportunity to express these values and lift up others. My ultimate career goal is to write songs for other artists so that they can use their voice to help advocate for whatever is important to them. I want to collaborate with artists to help them discover the tools to best illustrate their beliefs.

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve cared about advocacy. Whether it was for the environment, social justice or human rights, I’ve always believed we could make the world better. When I was twelve, I began to discover the possibilities of music to express what I want to advocate for, and articulate every thought and feeling that words alone could never reach. As Stevie Wonder put it, “music is a language in itself”. So when I was 16, I chased my dream, got accepted to Berklee College of Music, and at 17 graduated high school a year early to pursue my purpose. I started playing piano a few weeks before COVID began, and it was just enough time for me to know that I hated the classical music in front of me. My piano teacher insisted I learn this song called “Grandmother’s Lace” and all I can remember is how much I hated the daintiness and fragility in the song. When COVID came along, I was so glad to not play that song anymore. But my mom still wanted me to play piano everyday for 15 minutes. One day, I heard my dad playing a song I liked on guitar and he asked if I wanted to play it. And I was so confused because I only thought piano was supposed to be played on what I considered “boring songs”. My dad told me I could play rock songs on piano and it was actually quite normal. So I sat at the piano and learned the chords by ear, and in that moment I started to truly understand why people enjoyed playing music. As COVID continued, I taught myself all kinds of different songs. I learned I had perfect pitch, which led me to focus on training my ear more. A year later, I started songwriting through a program in my town, and I knew I was going to continue that for the rest of my life. Around the same time, I also joined a youth orchestra in my town as a pianist. The only problem was, I couldn’t read sheet music. But eventually I used my ear and figured out the correlation between the notes and the lines, and taught myself how to read sheet music. Then I discovered jazz, and I fell in love with music on a whole new level. I learned so much about the culture, the influence, the style, and soul in jazz. It was evident that jazz connected people in a unique way. And I knew I needed to play jazz for the rest of my life. The summer after my freshman year, I did some fundraising and attended Berklee’s 5-week summer program. And I learned about the work that Terri Lyne Carrington and Esperanza Spalding do for women’s rights in jazz, and it inspired me so much. I’ve since been able to bring twenty-seven different women into the jazz industry, and they’ve all said it’s improved their lives for the better. Overall my goal as an artist is to uplift and inspire people to live their best lives. Through the unique language of music, it’s possible to bridge gaps between cultures, lived experiences, and personal values, thanks to the uniting power of shared emotions through just 88 pitches. I am eternally indebted to music because of how it has connected me to myself and others. Justice and advocacy have always been non-negotiables in my life. Music has changed my life by allowing me the opportunity to express these values and lift up others.