Q. Who are the members of your family: parents, siblings and pets?

A. I live with my parents and my cats Spirit, Oreo, Feather, Reggie and Zella.

Q. What have you most enjoyed about being a senior?

A. My best memory of being a senior was competing in the Mr. Emmaus competition and being chosen as a finalist. I enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone, especially during the group dance numbers and having fun with some of the other seniors. I got to be creative picking out different outfits for the swimwear and formalwear categories, as well as writing and performing an original song for the talent portion. It was great how everyone turned up for the competition and supported all of the competitors.

Q. What is your favorite subject? Why?

A. My favorite subject is music and I have taken music courses throughout high school, including four years of Chorale, as well as orchestra and AP music theory. This year, as a dual-enrollment student at Lehigh Carbon Community College, I took college courses in popular music history and two semesters of digital audio production, which I really enjoyed. I have loved music for as long as I can remember and I’ve really enjoyed performing with Chorale at places like Carnegie Hall, the Vatican, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle and the Swiss Alps. I also enjoyed playing cello in the orchestra where they even performed one of my original compositions.

Q. Have you received any special awards or recognition?

A. I was selected to participate in multiple Pennsylvania Music Educators Association festivals, including four years of District Chorus, three years of Region Chorus and two years of State Chorus. I also won a scholarship at the Lehigh Valley Music Awards and was chosen as a choral scholar for the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Two of my original songs were featured in the 10-day Festival Unbound in November [2019], including at the candlelight finale. They also were included on a CD released in conjunction with the festival. I was the youth soloist winner of Bethlehem’s Clash of the Carols and served as president in the Young Musicians of the Allentown Music Club. I am a member of National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, International Thespian Society and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at LCCC. I received an AP Scholar with Honor award and am proud to say that I will be an Honor Graduate.

Q. What are your favorite extracurricular activities?

A. My favorite extracurricular activities are all focused on music. I had a ton of fun singing in Select Choir, which performs Christmas music for many different community groups and Fermata Nowhere, the all-male a cappella group. I also enjoyed playing cello in orchestra groups Sinfonia, Chamber Orchestra and Cello Ensemble. I was looking forward to being assistant music director for the spring musical, “Hello, Dolly!” and was going to play piano in the pit. Outside of school, I learned a lot singing and performing with the Bach Choir.

Q. What is your next goal after high school?

A. I plan to study songwriting at Berklee College of Music where I have been accepted to the First Year Abroad program in Valencia, Spain, where I will study with students from over 30 countries. I am excited to learn many different styles of music and collaborate with students from all over the world. I ultimately plan to write, produce and perform my own music.

Q. What do you consider your biggest challenge to date?

A. My biggest challenge has been juggling my academics, music and activities. This year, I had to balance my dual-enrollment courses as well, which proved to be a real challenge. For most of the year, I had to drive up to LCCC’s campus for my college classes and return to EHS for my music courses. It taught me a lot about time management and organization - skills that will benefit me in college.

Q. For what would you like to be remembered?

A. I’d like to be remembered as a talented and hardworking musician who was always ready to help others. I would also like to be remembered as someone who held himself to high standards, academically and musically and who always stood up for what he believed in.

Q. Whom do you admire? Why?

A. I admire my Honors World Studies teacher Mr. Gallagher. I was never a big fan of social studies, but he got me interested in world history and cultures. He was a fun teacher and very supportive of my music. One of the highlights of my junior year was going to Japan with the history classes, for which he was a chaperon.

Q. Do you have any advice for your peers?

A. Confidence is the key to success. Don’t be afraid to talk to teachers because you can end up forming a strong relationship with them and they will always be willing to help. If you have a great idea, don’t wait on it; getting it out there as soon as possible is the best option, no matter how you think people will react to it. Believing in yourself can also significantly increase your performance, so just remember that confidence is key in almost every situation.