The Teacher

I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. In 6th grade, my parents made the mistake of buying me a guitar for Christmas. I began taking lessons as well as teaching myself piano, and in 8th grade I earned a spot playing guitar in Sellwood’s jazz band.

My musical journey continued in high school, when I earned a spot in Cleveland High School’s award-winning advanced jazz band as a freshman. My junior year I joined our state-champion choir program as well, singing baritone. I’ve always enjoyed creative writing, and my freshman year I found rap gave me an engaging outlet. Rap allowed me to piece together words in ways that simply wouldn’t work in other forms of verse, and I immediately drew an obvious parallel between freestyling and the art of improvisation in jazz. I hope everyone in the class will gain a similar appreciation for this unique genre of music.

I chose the CHC over the University of Puget Sound, passing up the possibility of playing DIII baseball to attend the greatest university in the world. I’m pursuing a B.S. in biochemistry with a minor in popular music studies. I plan to use the skills I gain during my education to help in improve the human condition by developing therapeutics within a field such as pharmacogenomics or oncology.