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One day, in 1999, when I was three years old, Mum left home with my newborn Sister and came to pick me up from daycare, (2 minute drive). Then she took my Sister and I with her to the supermarket, (4 minutes from home, 2 minutes from daycare). When we got out of the car at the supermarket, Mum could see smoke coming from the direction of our street. Remembering she had left the computer on, she said out loud "Oh god, that wouldn't be us, would it?" - The first part of that day that I can vividly recall. She decided there was no way it could possibly be our house as she had been gone for such a short time, so we continued into the supermarket to do our shopping. She was wrong.
As we were approaching our street, which had been closed, it became obvious to Mum that it was our house that had been burning. It seemed like everyone in the neighbourhood had come to observe the action. I remember seeing firemen going in and out of the house, including our next door neighbour, Stuart. They were retrieving what little was left of our belongings. Stuart brought me my favourite teddy bear's tail, and the ribbon it wore around its neck. - The third thing I remember. Mum had bought me a rainbow paddlepop ice cream from the supermarket, which I was thoroughly enjoying when we arrived at the scene. As she got out of the car, she frantically started making phone calls and that's when I noticed she was crying. "I'll finish my ice cream and then I'd better cry", - I remember thinking.
Mum made arrangements for her close friend to pick myself and my baby sister up and take us around to her house. She got a surprise when she turned up, to what she thought was a kitchen fire Mum was exaggerating about, and the whole house was gone. Word travelled that we were around at Maurine's house, and people from all around Lauderdale started turning up at her door with clothes, toys and groceries for our family. Having no idea what was going on other than the fact that I was getting presents left right and centre, I was having the time of my life! Someone even replaced my favourite teddy bear! So, when Dad walked through the door, after leaving work and viewing what was left of our house, I ran to the top of the stairs, full to the brim with excitement and yelled, "DADDY, DADDY, WE'VE HAD A FIRE!" - Which I don't remember, but I will never live down.

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Ever since I can remember, I have loved being in the water. In fact, Mum and Dad say, the only time I would stop crying as a baby was when they put me in the bath... Sorry Mum! I grew up in Lauderdale and the beach was essentially our backyard. I recall spending all day long at the beach in summertime, playing mermaids and practicing our underwater handstand skills, only leaving the water to go up to the house for replenishment, or being forced out to re-apply our sunscreen.
Today, the beach is where I go to reflect and feel happy and calm, and good luck trying to get me out of the water if the weather is nice!

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I think in a way my love for music originated around the time of the house fire, as a lot of the toys I was given were musical. For example, my Wiggles guitar, Hi Five microphone, and the toy violin that became my favourite. The violin had 3 different songs programmed into it that would begin when the bow touched the strings, and pause when your bow left the strings, giving the impression that I was really playing. Dad used to make me get the violin out and perform for his unsuspecting friends, who were absolutely blown away with my abilities at the ripe old age of 3! Perhaps that is where my love for performance started too. For as long as I can remember, I have loved to sing. I started writing my own songs when I was 9. I would dress up and throw singing concerts for my parents, showcasing all my new songs about school. and barbies and my baby annabel doll. I would force them to film me so I could watch it back later and remember the melodies. I had the lyrics all written down in my diary. The first song I showed my parents was called "Creativity". I wrote it when I was 9 and it was about school and how much I hated it. Here's the first verse and chorus: " I went to school in the morning and my teacher said 'you have to do this, you have to do that' and I thought, there's a place that's in our minds, there's a place that we should go, called our hopes, called our dreams, called our creativity."
Pretty full on for a 9 year old but Mum was proud! The next year, I got a keyboard for my birthday and began piano and singing lessons. I have been writing music ever since.

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In early highschool, I started getting chronic headaches and some visual disturbances. I had some blood tests done and they showed that my iron levels were low, so I was put on supplements and that was that. Though the headaches didn't seem to subside, they weren't a major concern to my doctors due to my age. A few months later, I had a Transient Ischemic Attack, sometimes known as a "Stroke of the Brain". I was walking in to a drama lesson at the time, with friends I had known for 7 to 10 years, and I didn't recognise anyone. I thought one of my closest friends was a new student. This event prompted further investigations... 5 years and a long story later, I was formally diagnosed, by world renowned nurosurgeon Dr. Charles Teo, with a Symptomatic Pineal Cyst. The cyst had been there, in every MRI scan I had had, since the first week of investigations, but all the doctors and specialists I had spoken to before Dr. Teo had said it was simply too rare for this kind of tumor to cause symptoms, and most suggested that I should see a psychologist because I was making it up. One also suggested that my mother should also see a psychologist because she was "obsessed". Dr. Teo went on to publish a formal article about his research and experience with Pineal Cyst patients. He stated that Pineal Cysts/Tumors can be, and are often, symptomatic and tht patients with severe symptoms had immediate relief after having the lesions removed. In my case, my symptoms were tolerable enough not to risk having surgery. My symptoms are something I just have to accept and cope with day-to-day, and though this entire ordeal didn't offer me a quick-fix solution, it taught me about resilience, perserverence and the importance of standing up for yourself. Plus, I know that I was one of many cases that contributed to Dr. Teo publishing a document that will save so many people from having to go through what I did just to be heard, and that is a pretty good feeling!

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In 2018, an ad popped up in my Facebook newsfeed. It was a casting call for an exciting new television series called "All Together Now". After reading that they were looking for amateur singers in Australia, I decided to look into it, The idea behind the show was that the contestant performed a song for a panel of 100 judges, who were from all areas of the music industry, and scored a point for each judge that stood up to sing along. I sent in a video auition expecting to never hear back. About a month later I recieved a phone call from the casting team inviting me to audition for the producers face to face in melbourne. Of course, I accepted. I remember thinking the audition went okay but I still didn't believe I would make it any further. On the plane home, all I was thinking was "How cool was that?!" and how grateful I was for the experience. The next week I got another phone call. This time inviting me to audition for the music team, who would be composing the backing tracks if I was to get on the show. Again, after that audition I thought "Right, that's it. There's no way I'll make it any further than this". About 2 weeks later I was just about to walk in to a Harry Styles concert when I recieved the most exciting phone call of my life: "We would love to have you on the show!" - (amazing timing!) What followed were 6 weeks of prepararation. Paperwork, flights, more paperwork, more flights, photoshoots, dress rehearsals, wardrobe checks and eventually a 9 hour day of filming on set! The format of the show was pretty brutal. 10 contestants performed per episode, with only one from each episode making it to the final. I was right in the middle  with a score of 67 for my performance of an Adele ballad and recieved some amazing feedback from lots of industry professionals, including Rhonda Burchmore who was in tears! It was a weird feeling at the time, all of that lead up for a 2 minute performance, and then it's all over. But 4,000 people autidioned and I was 1 of 70 who made it to the show! I was stoked! When the episode aired, I had a big party with close friends and family and we all watched it together. I will forever be grateful for that experience. It really was an "I can do anything" moment.

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I have always been pretty certain about what I would like to do in life, and that is to write and produce music. The only thing I have been unsure of was how to go about that. During my medical diagnosis fiasco I ended up dropping out of school, before I completed year 10. I had two years off and then decided to go to college. Unfortunately, anxiety got the better of me and I dropped out after 5 weeks. It was a bit overwhelming coming into an academic environment after not having studied for what felt like such a long time. I started work again, doing some singing gigs, working at a jewellery store, and then a clothing store, and now a designer clothing store. All the while toying with the idea of studying music at University but being thrown off by that same anxiety. "What if I can't cope?" "What if I drop out again?" "I haven't been to school for so long." "I don't have an ATAR" I don't have my TCE" "How could I possibly?" I was discussing this with a close friend of my mum who happens to be in education, and she mentioned the University Preparation Program. I did some research and realised this is exactly what I need to get my confidence up and regain comfortability in an academic environment. Still, I was anxious and put it off for another 6 months... but now I'm here and I'm doing it! I finally feel like I am working towards my goals, and I am really looking forward to all the opportunities University has to offer!