Since preschool, my favorite song has been ‘Heart of Gold’ by Neil Young. Back then, I had no idea what it meant, the process of creating it, or who had been behind it. A few years later, my dad and I were listening to the ‘Harvest’ cassette, driving home to Oregon’s Cascades. He paused the music and asked me “Did you know that every song has a story?” This hit me like an earthquake. A new artist of the time that I liked, Taylor Swift, became so much deeper. The Fleetwood Mac album ‘Rumours’ became more than just awesome guitar solos. And Tom Petty, who my mom liked, evolved to be resilient. My dad gave me the vision to see a story.
Through high school, I developed a real love for my French classes. During sophomore year, I went on a 10 day trip from Paris to Nice. This was another paradigm shift. The words weren’t just a grade on a test or a book to read. I met real people, who spoke a real language, in a real world.
I graduated in May of 2025 from the University of Idaho with my Bachelor of Arts in Modern Language Business and French with a Minor in Marketing. Through my undergraduate experience, my time was split. I stayed involved in music, from executive roles in Sigma Alpha Iota, and marketing internships where I worked on campaigns for concerts and Record Store Day. I went back to France to study abroad in Pau. Finding every opportunity to grow my language skills, all the way up to C1. It wasn’t until my senior year where I realized why I was drawn to music, language, and marketing. The through line is the stories that they all are able to convey. The lyrics were a story, another language was a channel to learn someone’s story, and marketing is showing the story of a business.
I’m so glad to have found the Bolz Center for Arts Administration. I’m spending my time in graduate school at my Applied Learning Placement with the Wisconsin Union as an Events and Activation Associate. I, as many people do, crave connection, and that’s exactly what I get to create through Badger Bash and other Union events.
After graduating from the Bolz Center, I’d like to continue my career in the music industry through concerts and events. I find joy and fulfillment in bringing something to life and giving it to a crowd. I want the rest of my professional life to be linking stories to create an event, and crafting an event to create community.
I’ve struck gold with the Bolz Center. I’ve been able to explore my interests, lead others to build connections, and make them myself. I get to be a part of all of the things I’ve been mining for.
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