My Passion For Music

When I first glanced at the prompts and saw the one that asked me to speak of a passion of mine, I knew that this was definitely the prompt I had to choose. My passion is my love for comedy. Comedy has always been a huge part of my life and continues to be to this day. It has encompassed my life for as long as I can remember. Whether I was looking to others to make me laugh, developing laughter from being around my family, or myself making others laugh the memories are embedded in my mind. With these memories I have come to the conclusion that I have always found a way to make others laugh. I really don’t know if I make people laugh to gain friends or some other reason; whatever it may be, it has sparked a realization that this is something I love to do.

It seems like from the moment I could walk, I have had a love for dancing. When I was little, every chance I got, I would perform in front of my family. Whether I was singing, dancing, dressing up, or pretending to be a model on the runway, I wanted all the attention on me. When my mom put me into dance classes, I instantly fell in love with it, because the whole time, I got to do what I loved the most: perform. As the years went on, dance became something I was truly passionate about, and the lessons I learned from it began to change me. Those lessons and the ones I am still learning from dance have had a huge impact on me, making me into the person I am today.

My passion is to tell people that Muslims are not terrorist. ISIS doesn’t have religion, and they don't know anything about Islam because Islam is the religion of peace not war. There were lots of attacks that they did, and the recent one was the Paris attack. I want to start off by expressing my deepest sympathies to all the people in France. Any act of violence against innocent people is an act of violence against all innocent people.

There are a variety of things that I love and that I love to do, but I only have one true passion; that passion is with animals. Not only do I love animals in general, but I also love caring for and working with them. For as long as I can remember, I have always had a pet present in my life. I like to think that for that reason it is why I love animals as much as I do. For the most part, animals are friendly and can be like a friend when you need one. Animals are also incredibly cute, which is kind of a lame point to make, but it is still is an important part as to why I feel such compassion towards animals. As a child, I always had a special spot in my heart for animals. I can recall as far back as my first cat, Casper, who was like a best friend for my young self. He would let me play with him, he was gentle, and he was very friendly. He fell ill at an old age and I would wipe his drool and brush his knotty fur because it was hard for him to care for himself. My interest in the veterinary medicine most likely comes from this experience. Now I have two more cats, Phoebe and Luna, and one dog, Kasey. I like to think I have a great connection with all three, but I have an especially strong bond with my youngest cat, Luna. When I picked out Luna as a kitten at the shelter, I could see that we immediately had a connection. She was a very feral kitten and would not let anyone get close to her, let alone touch her, but she let me pet her. It was in that moment that I knew that

I was raised up believing in the importance of service and community as I saw my family members and neighbors selflessly help and be in community with people in need. It is therefore no surprise that I discovered my passion for service and volunteerism while still young. In my hometown Nairobi, Kenya, I did community service through various ways, including my involvement in the charity walk for Street Children and Orphans in Kenya in 2003 and the 2007 Brookside Freedom from Hunger Campaign. I participated in the charity walk for these causes and helped raise money to support street children, orphans, ending hunger, and was recognized as one of the top three people to raise the most funds. In high school, I volunteered at the St. Nicholas Children's home in Kenya, where I served, played, and was in solidarity with the children. In 2013, I earned the President’s Bronze Standard award given to me by Honorable Mwai Kibaki, the third president of Kenya for being a young person equipped with positive life skills and a change maker in my community, country, and globally.

My passion for science and plants began early in my childhood and has grown substantially to that which energizes me to chase after higher goals. I used to obsessively search for information on wild plants that were edible and had medicinal properties. Now, I find that I am continually amazed by research on the photosynthetic pathway along with biochemistry within plants in general. I was, and still am, enthralled by the idea that so much knowledge and novelty is within the organisms that I had appreciated since I was young. I believe that this passion was driven further by being able to compare, for myself, a life spent in remedial labor and one with scientific exploration. Needing to work in my family’s business for years out of necessity placed me in a position where I saw how each action could either draw me from or towards a better lifestyle. These experiences have personally shown me the value in a program like the Leadership Alliance, whose purpose offers a means to be a part of a diverse cohort striving toward leadership in the world. Having the opportunity to be included in a community with such a goal and momentum would be phenomenal. It would allow me to continue pursuing graduate and post-graduate level education while also refining me into a monumental force in the field of scientific research. I desire to pursue my passion of photosynthesis, plants, and biochemistry to serve the world with a team of researchers.

Everyday we learn a lesson, but it it is a process that we must go through. It can feel overwhelming at first since the beginning is pretty much a blank space. At a young age my passion for art really showed; however, I didn’t quite understand how to start or knew any techniques that I could use. In time I was able to learn completely. I had many people there to help me in the process and once I did, it felt like I was taught to do something that could only keep progressing in. I learned that my artistic abilities were not automatically exceptional; I needed time and dedication to develop my talent.

Music is magical to me. The very concept has the ability to tug at your heartstrings, calm down your nerves, and overall, bring together groups of people like no other idea really could. For the last six years, I have been a part of the music community, and I have loved every minute of it. From when I started playing the trombone in sixth-grade, to me joining marching band in high school, to my acceptance and participation Governor's School West this past summer, my passion for music has been a pivotal part of my life that has driven me to succeed in the fields of leadership, scholarship, and beyond.

Music is the most important thing in life. Or at least it is to mine. I play the violin along with a couple other instruments I taught myself. I went to the Denver School of the Arts for high school to play in their orchestra. I plan on studying music in college. Almost everything I do is connected to music, but it was fairly recently when I first started becoming really devoted to music. There are many kids who are born being an amazing musicians, but my passion for music had to be grown over time.

At this point in my life, it is my job to figure out what I have a passion for. While doing so, I frequently reflect on one of the most famous quotes by Alexander Hamilton, “Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” This past spring I gazed out the window admiring the earth as it sat peacefully below me. This inspiring moment happened on my first flight to San Jose, Costa Rica.

To adequately explain my love of the arts and social sciences, I must first recount my first experiences of art and how that experience shaped me to become, and I quote my mother here, the “artsy fartsy” person I am today. Much like any child, when I was in elementary school I changed what I wanted to be when I grew up frequently. In kindergarten, I wanted to be an artist. A traveling art merchant who sold pieces of themselves off to the highest bidder, a person who traveled the world but always seemed to come back to France because, to me, that was the epicenter of artistic innovation. I'd won several local art competitions by the time I was eight and to quote myself, “If I don’t do art, I will die.” By the time I was in third grade, my romanticized view of art had changed drastically. I was disenchanted with the art scene in my town, and I told my mother that I wanted nothing to do with crayons, let alone a full-blown art career. I quickly latched on to another hobby, singing. My passion for singing, at the time, was so pure and my talents were limitless. My friends and family told me it was a natural gift, and that I was given a vocal range that rivaled even the best in the business, and I believed them. They fueled my desire to train my voice, to join every local choir I could, and to eventually even travel as far as Los Angeles to showcase my talents. But, I slowly become disenchanted with singing too. It became another dream that seemed impossible to waste time vying

When parents place their kids in extracurricular activities at young ages they never know to what extent their child is either going to love it or hate it. My parents never expected me to fall in love with dance the way I did. From the tiny age of 4 till this day, dance has always been something I am extremely passionate about. Out of everything I tried – soccer, cheerleading, gymnastics – dance was the one that stuck.

My refuge as a child was the library. The walls and isles lined with books, the smell of pages, and the quietness was my tranquility. I spent my days at the library, reading and playing games and puzzles; timing and challenging myself to see if I could do them faster and better. I was easily lost in adventures, ideas, and minds of characters through endless hours of reading. It was this time spent at the library that ignited my curiosity to understand how things worked, and sparked my passion for learning.

What can be said about the passion that fuels the mind of a young woman? As a young child, passion was what I heavily relied on. Passion was the heaven sent I needed in order to be what I always dreamed of: a scientist. I remember pretending to save humankind with a cure all antidote that would save it from disease and disorder. The whole experience was very real to me then, as it is now. Ever since I was young, I wanted to make a difference in society that would impact it a much larger scale. That is why I firmly believe I am following my rightful pursuit as a Biology major who has a passionate interest in working within research. Factors I discussed in my other influenced me to choose this course of but primarily, it's the impact I could make on so many young leaders who look have similar backgrounds to mine that makes the major I am pursuing so much more attainable, no matter how difficult and demanding it can be at times. .My goals in life for myself and my family also contributes to my chosen field of study. These factors are so important to me because I view it as a solution that could inspire and influence so many others. The goal of being the first person on my mother's side to ever graduate from college. Also, the opportunity making my parents proud of their daughter, a daughter who will make the country they came to love and respect proud. The dream and passion to be a scientist will not only help my community here in The United States of America, but I also plan

I’d never care for music- it was just useless background noise. Sure, I listened to the radio, but I never went to concerts or watched music videos on YouTube. All my friends had iPods and iTunes full of hundreds and hundreds of songs. I was always content with the few songs I had. Honestly, music was just something I didn’t care about. At least, I thought that way until I discovered music worth listening to.