First and foremost, music is my life.

My whole life has been based around music. Whether it was my mom humming to herself in the kitchen or if I was playing the kitchen pans with a wooden spoon, I was always surrounded by sound. My father was and is a musician. He plays guitar, drums, and some electric piano (although I wish I had these attributes, I only developed the voice). Music made him happy. He's not famous by no means, but for those who know him, they know that he has a strong devotion to singing about god. That is what he loves to do. So what is wrong with singing classical music? Specifically, Opera?

Well, apparently some people do not enjoy Opera. WHICH IS A LIE.

I've been to a few rehearsals where people backstage knew all the words to everyone's part and started dancing to it. It brought smiles to their faces. They enjoyed being there.

I say all that to explain this: I won't stop singing. For anything or anybody. I refuse.

When I was younger, I was afraid to sing because I thought people didn't like it. I stopped singing because I was afraid of someone's stupid opinion about my gift. It wasn't until a few years ago that I actually started opening up about my voice and started thinking about making this my profession. I want to be an Opera singer.

I've had a few of my family members makes jokes about me being their little Opera girl and pretending to sing like an opera singer would. To be perfectly honest, I find it pretty insulting. I saw it as sort of a taunt more than encouragement.

My career is not something to joke about. My voice is nothing to joke about either. It wouldn't be very funny is somebody did an impression of a nurse as a joke, now would it?

I'm not saving everyone's lives, but I am saving mine.

As stated in an earlier article I did, I wrote about my Depression. It made me not want to sing anymore. All the arias I have sung, I didn't find enjoyable. I hated my voice, I hated singing, I hated being on stage in front an audience. I had forgotten who I was. This also made me rethink about maybe going into a different profession. Truth is, if I wasn't going to school for music, I don't know what I would be doing. I would probably just be at home crying all the time and never getting out of the house. I would've died in my home.

I have just decided that I will stop worrying about what other think about my voice. Singing is everything I do. I love learning about how music started, learning how to do a counterpoint, and translating art songs.

I sing because I know I'm making my mother proud in heaven. I sing because I have a man who supports my art. I sing because I have such a huge support system at my school.

I sing because I'm happy.