Passion is something many people take seriously, no matter where it begins or what form it takes. For some, it’s something that they are naturally good at. For others, it’s something they want to learn.
For sophomore Martha Sung, that passion is music.
From singing and dancing as a child to recording covers on her phone, sophomore Martha Sung has developed a strong interest for music and hopes to build a future with it.
Her love for music started with her mother, as they would sing and dance together throughout her childhood.
As she grew older and carried her musical abilities with her, she started thinking about how she can incorporate music into her future, possibly through producing and helping others find their way through music.
“I thought if there was another way to get closer to music, it would be through singing,” Sung said.
Sung wants to grow closer to music because it calms her down. It is also a way for her to express herself.
As of right now, one of Sung’s biggest goals is becoming more confident singing in front of others. Even though she’s never taken any music classes or pursued her passion outside of school, her love for music shines through when she sings in different languages and uses them in her covers.
“I grew up with many genres of music like pop, indie, electronic music and so on are the kinds of music I’m relatively familiar with,” Sung said.
When she has a song stuck in her head, she uses the app, BandLab, to produce a cover. In BandLab, she finds the beat and studies it. She also listens to how the original artists sing it and puts her own twist on it to make it her own without completely copying the artist.
Then, she moves on to actually using her voice. She starts with vocal warm ups and gradually moves into singing. She uses her phone and wired earbuds to record the covers.
Sung covers a few different genres, with some of the main ones being Korean pop and Japanese pop, leaning heavily into the pop realm.
Throughout her music journey, she’s gained a lot of support from her friends, one of them being sophomore Sarah Malsawm.
“She was really scared of people judging her in a way, and she thinks that people would judge her by how she sounds,” Malsawm said. “So I just motivate her to keep going no matter what anybody says.”
Sung’s friends have helped her grow more confident in her craft, which motivates her to produce more music.
With this determination, she not only wants to have this passion now but also later in life. Sung hopes music will stay and stick with her. However, she is still trying to stay realistic about her future.
Sung is unsure of how stable a career in music will be because she wants to have a secure job in her future.
“I do want to do it seriously, but sometimes I kind of have to think about the real world,” Sung said. “I do want to be successful and think realistically what would be good for me in the future.
While she tries to stay realistic, Sung hopes that she will carry her passion. The main cause of her wanting to help people with their journey is so they find their way through music and make it the most impactful for them.
