Growing up, I remember listening to records with my parents. Rock, jazz, pop, country, blues, folk music, and opera transported me. In middle school, I gained the courage to try voice lessons. Initially, I wanted to sing songs by Sia, Beyonce, and Sara Bareilles. The voice instructor guided me to begin with a classical approach. Once I began singing classical art songs, and then opera, I never looked back. It felt like home. To experience opera is to experience memories we had otherwise forgotten. It is to be moved by a story so deeply it feels like our own. Opera requires a person's entire soul to be invested, otherwise, the possibility to touch all hearts, no matter the language, is lost. I went into voice lessons wishing to be the next pop star and found myself chosen by another art form.