EXPERIENCES | We Hear You, Hopkins

My Musical Journey:

Finding Passion in My Connection to Music

Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember! I don’t think there is a specific moment when my love for music really started; I think music has always been something that has brought me comfort as I have grown up. My family has always shared and danced to music together since I was a baby. I feel like there’s always a beat or some type of song playing in my head, and so, when I’m not listening to music, I’m either playing or producing music, or just humming and beatboxing.

In terms of my history of playing music, I started playing piano when I was four years old. I took up lessons until I was fifteen years old, when I started producing my own tracks.

The first string instrument I ever learned to play was the ukulele. It was a required instrument to play when I was in primary school, so I had a little bit of knowledge, but I only knew four basic chords: C, G, Am, and F. I taught myself the rest of what I know now after I rediscovered that ukulele in our basement after moving! I received my first guitar as a gift from my parents after graduating sixth grade and started learning from then on. My experience with guitar is a mix of private lessons and knowledge I found on my own from YouTube.

I started writing and recording my own music when I was in seventh grade. I started producing my own beats and tracks the year before freshman year, over my gap year. I continue to learn more and more about producing every time I create and collaborate with other people. There is still so much I don’t know!

I would love to learn to play the bass and drums next! I am trying to get my band member, Alejandro, to teach me to play bass, and I have tried to teach myself drums. I can play about two basic drum patterns, but I really want to learn to play one day - it is such a fun instrument.

Alejandro and I started a band with Miya Segal at the beginning of our freshman year. We decided not very long after that we wanted a drummer, so after learning that Steven Broun played, he joined the band during our sophomore year!

We play all types of genres! We chose our name “Omnia” because it literally translates to “all and everything” in Latin. We mostly play covers from genres such as alternative, pop, indie, jazz, and some rock. We really like trying out music that we might not usually play on our own but that is super fun for us to play all together.

I have wanted to be a part of a band since I started playing guitar. I’ve always loved the idea of having a group of friends that felt like family that I could play and perform with whenever I wanted to. I tried to start a band when I was in seventh grade, but it was really difficult because we never had any free time to practice. When I came back for my freshman year after not being in school, it seemed like the perfect time to try again! I’m so lucky that I met Alejandro as early as I did; he is brilliant. He is so talented and funny and like a brother to me.

We try to practice as often as we can together, but it's difficult because… Junior Year of high school. Our slots of free time are all different for the most part, but Ale and I share a few free periods, so we sometimes use those times to share ideas and play if we don’t have homework. Towards the summer, though, Steven, Ale, and I are going to have much more time to play together, so I am REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO seeing my guys again :’)

On my own, I like to play a lot of jazz and R&B guitar. I play pretty much only clean guitar with a LOT of reverb (which essentially makes the guitar sound more echoey without the echo part). Those are my normal amp settings - THEY MAKE THE GUITAR SOUND LIKE BUTTER (as long as I play well). The beats I produce are very similar; if I decide to use real instruments in my beats, I most frequently turn to R&B guitar because it’s the instrument I play the best and connect to the most. Sometimes, I will incorporate my voice into the beat as well, if harmonies fit the vibe of the song. For example, in one of my beats called “Your,” I hum harmonies pretty much throughout the whole song because it is what I thought the song needed for it to feel completed!

Each of my own songs/beats are inspired by emotions I felt at different moments in my life. I think my favorite song I have produced is the beat I wrote called “Your” (which you can actually listen to on Spotify!). It has no words; the only vocals in the song are some harmonies of me humming. Despite the lack of words, it is the song that has the most meaning to me and makes me feel the most. I produced it in a really beautiful time in my life, when I was discovering a lot about myself as a human being and taking the time to let myself discover those things! I was exploring new interests, developing a ton of friendships, finding my groove as an artist, and just overall feeling really appreciative to be living this beautiful life with all these people I love.

The one line of words in the song, right before the chorus, is, “I just want your-.” I left the end blank, so it’s open for interpretation! What do people want in order to feel the most happy and the most complete? For me, much like it was in that time of my life, it is ABUNDANT creative energy and love from those around me!! I produced it in May 2017, the last full month of my gap year. I will always consider that month one of the most beautiful, most creative months in my life.

More technically, I produce all my songs and beats in a DAW (digital audio workstation) called Logic Pro X, which is like GarageBand, but on steroids. There are so many things you can do. You have so much control that you can make every instrument you want to use sound exactly the way you want it to. I’ve learned my skills as a producer from watching videos on YouTube and collecting little tips from producers I admire.

I have a ton of new music coming! The project I’m most excited for that I’m currently working on is a self-produced album that I am creating with two of my best friends, Kaila Spearman and Ranease Brown! Kaila and Ranease are such talented musicians; they are both so incredible at writing and singing, so we’ve all come together to make an album that will be out very soon! It’s going to be fantastic. We hope it blows you away when you hear it; we are in love with what we’ve done already!

- CHECK OUT ALEXIS' SPOTIFY @ALEXIS CHANG

~ LINKS TO HER INSTAGRAM MUSIC ACCOUNTS @CHANGSTERMUSIC @OMNIAPLAYSMUSIC

~ Alexis Chang '21

Celebrating International Women's Day

~ Ella Norwitt '21

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Our Favorites of the Decade

It is officially the end of 2019. Everyone knows what a new year always brings: an Instagram timeline drowning in New Year’s Eve party posts, many “I haven’t ______ since last year!” jokes, and numerous resolutions that may or may not last more than a month. Yet this year, it is (slightly) different because it is the end of the decade, and people are not only looking forward to projected self-improvement, but also backward at how much they have changed. I personally struggle to fathom how long a decade truly is. At the beginning of 2010, I was seven years old and in first grade. My days consisted of trading Silly Bands and Crazy Pens on the bus and playing tag at recess. Katy Perry’s songs were all the rage, and the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie had been released. 2011 brought Rebecca Black’s “Friday,” and Sophia Grace and Rosie went viral for rapping to Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass.” These are just a few examples of what I think about when I reflect on my childhood. Come the end of 2016, One Direction will have broken up, Finding Dory and Moana will have been released, and I will have started eighth grade at my local public school while preparing my application for Hopkins. These past ten years have been the most significant years of growth for me and many of my peers, as we mature from children into young adults. I know I can not summarize the past decade by myself, and since so much has happened around the world that has certainly been significant, this article will bring the past down to a more individual level. Here are a few Hopkins students’ favorite songs, movies, shows, and moments of the past decade, and a few of their aspirations for the next.

What was your favorite song of the decade?

“Sanguine Paradise” by Lil Uzi Vert - Caroline Chustecki ‘23
“All Star” by Smash Mouth - Sydney Matthews ‘23
“Lights Up” by Harry Styles - Valeriya Strickland ‘23
“I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz and “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis - Sofia Karatzas ‘22
“Wonderland” by Alexandra Mathews ‘22
“Goodbyes” by Post Malone - Julia An ‘21
“Sober Up” by AJR - Dania Anabtawi ‘21
“Coaster” by Khalid - Aidan Berchem ‘21
Anything by Milky Chance - Julia Kosinski ‘21
“Dynamite” by Taio Cruz - Craigin Maloney ‘21
Anything by Flo Rida - Ella Norwitt ‘21
“Same Drugs” by Chance the Rapper - Lola Panagos ‘21
“Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears - Katie Park ‘21
“Ignorance” by Paramore - Jasmine Shah ‘21
“Roxanne” by Arizona Zervas - Lucy Panagos ‘20
“Fireflies” by Owl City - CC Rocco ‘20
“Crash My Car” by COIN - Anna Simon ‘20
“Rise Up” by Andra Day - Rayane Taroua ‘20
“No Plan” by Hozier - Graley Turner ‘20
“Lover” by Taylor Swift (ft. Shawn Mendes) - Unknown

What was your favorite movie/show of the decade?

High School Musical: The Musical - Taylor Jenkins ‘24
Shrek - Sydney Matthews ‘23
Legally Blonde and Grey’s Anatomy - Cornelia Streeter ‘23
Orange is the New Black - Valeriya Strickland ‘23
Avengers: Endgame - Talia Chang ‘22
Mean Girls and The Breakfast Club - Sofia Karatzas ‘22
Avatar: The Last Airbender or Once Upon a Time - Alexandra Mathews ‘22
The Office - Dania Anabtawi ‘21
Friends - Aidan Berchem ‘21
Toy Story 3 - Emmett Dowd ‘21
White Collar - Craigin Maloney ‘21
Pulp Fiction - Katie Park ‘21
Brooklyn 99 - Yash Thakur ‘21
Avengers Endgame - Blake Harrison ‘20
Bohemian Rhapsody - Lucy Panagos ‘20
This is Us - Anna Simon ‘20
Grey’s Anatomy - Rayane Taroua ‘20
Knives Out - Graley Turner ‘20
The Office - Jackson Weisman ‘20
The Lion King - Unknown

What was your favorite moment of the decade?

Hanging out with some new friends that I made this year - Valeriya Strickland ‘23
Handing in my AC1 term paper - Talia Chang ‘22
Sunsets - Sofia Karatzas ‘22
Hopkins acceptance letter - Alexandra Mathews ‘22
Patriots 28-3 comeback - Blake Harrison ‘20
Women’s World Cup - Unknown

What do you hope to accomplish in this next decade?

Earn my Bachelor's and (hopefully) Master’s degrees - Ranease Brown ‘21
Survive high school - Margaret Toft ‘21

In 2030, my classmates and I will be five years out of college. Some of us will have experienced exotic gap years or gotten valuable work experience. Some of us may be back in school, some married with kids, some traveling the world, and some still figuring out what they want to do with their lives. I think that last one will always be applicable. No matter where we end up after the next ten years, it is human nature to strive for happiness and success, and this decade is the start of it all.

~ Grace Rhatigan '21

decade

Ella Norwitt's First Triathlon

This past June, Kate Collier (‘21) and I participated in our first triathlon, the Stamford Kic-It triathlon. When she first told me we were doing this, I was very apprehensive. First of all, I had only ever biked for fun–and had barely even done that. Second of all, I did not know how to swim. At all. I knew how to doggy paddle, but I had never learned freestyle or any other swim stroke. The only thing I did know an ounce about was the running portion, but I was still quite out of shape.

The training process was exhausting. Every G block, we would go to the pool and swim half a mile, which may not seem like a lot, but to me felt like swimming halfway across the Atlantic. Days would consist of either running 4-7 miles, biking 10-18 miles, swimming ½-1 mile, or any combination of the three. At several points during the process, I heavily considered giving up, as the training was extremely hard and difficult to keep up with along with my homework and other activities. But with the promise of an amazing result, Kate and I pushed on for six weeks until the day of the triathlon. While it was a tiring process, the triathlon itself was such an amazing experience. Now that we have done one, we are so excited to pursue other triathlon opportunities in the future!

- CHECK OUT ELLA'S TRAINING VIDEO HERE!

~ Ella Norwitt '21

Kate Collier's Georgetown Medical Camp Experience

Hey blog!

This summer, I went to a week-long summer program at Georgetown University with Ella Norwitt (‘21). The program was centered around medicine and surgery, and it was one of the best weeks of my life! Every day was different, but generally the schedule looked like this: wake up around 7, go to breakfast, first lecture or lab at 8:30 until lunch, go to lunch, lab or lecture until 5:00, go to dinner, and a final lecture until 9:00. It was definitely a long day. In total, we attended about ten two-hour lectures about all different fields of medicine. When I first looked at the schedule, I was not too happy about the endless lecturing, but they were the most interesting lectures I have ever listened to. Topics ranged from trauma and EMT to radiology and paleontology.

When we were not attending lectures, we were performing labs. We did a suture lab (learning how to stitch up a wound using a raw chicken), a cadaver lab (exploring actual dead bodies), an assortment of nursing mini-labs (including working with robot patient simulators), a rat dissection lab, and a casting tutorial. I thought that they were joking when they said we were doing a cadaver lab, but the next thing we knew, we were spending four hours studying corpses and organs that had been donated for science. I can’t choose a favorite lab because I loved them all so much.

Going into the medical academy, I loved the study of medicine and genetics, but I never really considered becoming a surgeon, and I didn’t really know a lot about surgery; however, after my time at the medical academy, I feel like my mind has completely been opened to a thousand career possibilities just in the realm of medicine. It was an incredible week, and I am so glad that I went!