“My face was flooded with tears. In an instant, I hit rock bottom.

I had just lost someone I once loved so much, and I didn’t know what to do. I felt so lost and alone. I didn’t know how to cope with the pain I carried. I remember coming home from school and just falling apart. [I] sat on my bed, tears streaming down my face, and I grabbed my guitar. I started playing different chords and just scribbling down lyrics, letting my feelings go into the music. I began to write a song about everything that I was going through, and it made me feel so much better.

I turned to choir and it made a big difference in my life. The sound of my voice with others [voices] brought me hope. Singing together reminded me that I could find strength, even in the toughest [times]. It helped me keep going and brought light back into my life.

I started to sing when I was six. Every day, I would sing to my family and brothers. My parents put me in music classes so I could learn an instrument, but I wanted to show my love for music through words and not keys on an instrument. My parents realized my passion for singing, so they put me in vocal classes. Those lessons helped shape my voice and my place in choir.

I joined choir as a freshman [at] Bellaire. I started choir because I knew I loved to sing, and it gave me a certain peace of mind. It let me feel like I could be and express myself and who I was.

As I continued to write and sing, music became my safe space. Every note lifted a weight off my shoulder. I would sometimes share my lyrics with my choir friends, and they would encourage me to keep writing songs. They understood my struggles and stood by me. I would see the smile on my friends’ faces, and it reminded me why I loved choir so much.

Singing helped me see the positive in every day.”