Songwriting is my everyday life. It’s how I see the world. I find themes and patterns and infuse them into my writing. An emotion doesn’t feel real to me until I write a song about it. When I get writer’s block, I don’t feel like a real person. I don’t understand myself and the world around me until I can articulate it in a song.

Songwriting is a part of me, the same as my hometown and my last name. It will always be mine, unshakeable.

My hometown (technically Lords Valley, but that’s not really a town, so I consider the Hawley area my origin) has taught me that experiencing art is not meant to be lonely. My area is rural, and that just makes it more dedicated to building a strong artistic community.

I grew up doing the Ritz Bitz plays at the Ritz Company Playhouse. I formed many of my current friendships there, including one with Callie Gelderman, who spent all of middle and high school creating opportunities for young musicians through an organization she founded called Chords for Community. Callie connected me to the Fall Music Festival at Dorflinger, an event that exists wholly to build community through music.

I’ve connected with TriVersity, a local organization that supports the LGBTQ+ community in this area. TriVersity holds a Pride festival every summer that’s filled with joy, art, and music. This past summer, I was lucky enough to headline the event. For me, the important part of these opportunities is not just the performances, it’s the relationships they build. Whenever I’ve ventured out of Pennsylvania, I’ve wanted to bring what I’ve learned home, and that’s because of my experiences with the dedicated people behind these projects, people I’m proud to call my friends.

I spent a lot of time in middle and high school working with the Center for Anti-Violence Education (CAE) in Brooklyn. In my time there, I began to look for themes and patterns in our society and governmental systems in the same way I look for them in songwriting. The conversations I had and lessons I learned there were some of the most humbling, impactful and empowering of my life. CAE gave me confidence to apply to YoungArts, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to identifying and nurturing artists throughout their careers.

In the 2023 and 2024 award cycles, I was lucky enough to be a YoungArts winner. It was the first time I had ever been called an artist, and that was truly life-changing and empowering. It opened me up to a community of artists who have provided me with other opportunities for which I am deeply grateful. I’ve always seen the award level that gets you to YoungArts Week in Miami (winner with distinction) as a goal to work toward, but not as something that could ever really happen to me. Working toward that goal pushed me as a songwriter and person, even if I never got to Miami.

I’m overjoyed that this year I’ve accomplished the goal, and am so grateful and excited to go to Miami where I know I will continue to grow.