School: Duke Ellington School of the Arts

Grade: Rising 10th Grader

Biography: I was born on the 15^th of May, 2008. Growing up, I found out that I had a talent for the violin in the fourth grade and I have been playing since then. My parents got divorced but both of them are still friends and they agreed to have a cycle with me staying one week at each house because they both moved back with their grandparents. Through the years I’ve become more exposed to Japanese culture thanks to my older brother and mostly my dad. He’s shown me the tale of Miyamoto Musashi and other stories like the “The 47 Ronin.” He has also showed me anime, Japanese culinary, and old Japanese shows and movies like Ultraman and Godzilla. When I was in middle school, I started having a violin tutor. During that time, I was also into a lot of anime, manga, and J-Pop. During eighth grade my tutor told me about Duke Ellington because of how good I had gotten at the violin so I applied and auditioned. Then they accepted me.

Expectations: I expect to have a fun, information-filled experience that will hopefully be memorable and exciting.