HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Audrey Tanzil

“When I was in preschool, my dad used to take me to Jack in the Box every day to get curly fries. I haven’t done that since kindergarten. But on my 18th birthday, I want my dad to take me to Jack in the Box to get curly fries for the first time in 15 years.

It’s a little scary to think that these past 13 years of required schooling are actually coming to an end. I always felt like there was this pressure to mature and prepare myself to move out of the house and get a job and find a place to live. But I feel like I’m ready. I’m trying not to be sad about things I’m going to miss and just be excited about the future.

I like playing piano a lot. I probably commit more time than I should to songwriting because I often prioritize it over schoolwork or college apps. Sometimes, I just get a hit of inspiration, like ‘I need to write something right now. I need to be creative. I need to make a new melody on the piano.’ That’s when my best work comes out.

[My songwriting] was first a school assignment in fifth grade. I had to write a song for a project. After that, I didn’t do much songwriting for a while. Then I got bored over quarantine, and I found it to be a good outlet when I was bored or just to release a lot of emotions.

I feel like [songwriting] has helped me see a lot of different perspectives. One of my favorite types of songs to write are songs from other people’s perspectives. Most recently, I wrote a musical for the Brown Bags, which are [student-directed plays] the theater company is doing. It’s been an aspiration of mine to write a musical, which stems from my enjoyment from writing songs from other people’s perspectives, and I saw the Brown Bags as my opportunity to do that.

[My parents] have been really supportive of songwriting and music as one of my hobbies. They were against it as a full-on career. It was a little disheartening at first, but as I got a little older, I realized their logic behind it and I agree. I’d still really like to make it a big part of my life.

I feel like I’ve finally become happy with myself and who I am as a person. A lot of people have already been saying to just be yourself. In high school, that was one big thing that I realized was true. I feel very excited to continue to grow and learn even more about myself.

I want people to remember me as someone who was fun, someone who was nice and friendly to everyone, someone who tried their best in all ways, but [especially] to be empathetic. My life motto is ‘Live unafraid and unashamed.’ Be proud of who you are. If you have something you want to do, and if it’s not hurting anyone, then go ahead and do it.”