From dance to colorguard to choir to accelerated classes, Sarah Wallace lives a hectic life and always on the go. The junior student, is part of Fraser singers, varsity dance team, colorguard, NHS, Tri-M, Performing Arts Career Academy, Orchestra, plays the violin and barry sax, and in mostly accelerated and AP classes except for Intro To Calculus. Her and her family are always busy and have a chaotic home.

“I have 2 other siblings, I’m the oldest, and we have a very busy schedule with their activities and mine  and I don’t think we ever had a sit down, let’s eat dinner kind of thing just cause we are always all over the place. Also with my dad on the school board he’s got a lot of work with the school, so we’re very busy,” said Sarah Wallace.

People would expect someone that’s always so busy to seem a little bit exhausted and drained, but Sarah is the opposite of that and has a cheery, positive demeanor. No matter what she always in a light mood and mainly because of her busy life.

“I think it comes from seeing and going to different things. Meeting so many different people and being part of different things, from organizations and the music program, I’ve gotten to know so many people and gotten to know their stories, and how difficult it is for each person so I feel I shouldn’t be forcing my problems on anyone else cause I know I go through as much as anyone else, and at the end of the day if I got that positive  attitude and putting a smile on someone elses’ face makes me happy, and keeps me going.”

Always so positive, but like any human she does take a break from time to time away from her hectic schedule that takes a toll on her mentally and physically.

“For me it’s a good month of going, going, going, from practice to practice, being at school from 7am to 9pm for rehearsals, sometimes 10pm depending on rehearsal, hours and hour on end  and after a good month, I know I need a break and sometimes I’ll take a day off school cause it’s a lot mentally and physically to go like that all the time.”

In her busy life, Sarah has gotten a strong support system in her youth from her friends to her siblings but especially her parents. Sarah parents went to Butcher and now her dad is part of the school board and her mom is a doctor, and they have encouraged Sarah to be involved with all the activities she loves and to take all the advance classes she’s in. Then her siblings, who are also busy with their schedules like basketball, soccer, and band, have also supported Sarah by going to her choir concerts and performances. Sarah returns their support by going to their games and performance and tries to be a good sister to them.

Ever since Sarah was little, she always loved to sing, dance, and to perform in front of a big audience, but in one moment of her life it seemed that it was impossible for her to sing ever again.

“When I was young, about 8, I lost my voice and was always hoarse, and I found out at the doctors that I have vocal nodules which means I have a bump on my vocal cords that prevented them from closing all the way, making my breathing off, my speech off, my voice hoarse, and the doctors thought I shouldn’t talk or sing again, and I wasn’t able to use my muscles to speak healthily, “ said Sarah.

It was very discouraging to hear that she could never sing or talk again, but her and her family tried to find anyway to help Sarah predicament and soon Sarah met one of her biggest inspirations, her first vocal coach.

“Going through the process of finding a way to talk and sing again was difficult and then I met my first vocal coach, and she worked me through singing to speak healthily. So we did a lot of vocal exercises to make me be able to talk, in a normal, functioning way and not overuse my muscles,” saids Sarah, “So she was my biggest inspiration to keep going despite all the doctors saying I shouldn’t talk again or I shouldn’t sing and just shutting me down. My coach was always supportive and pushed me to keep going and be a better learner, so I’m very grateful for her.”

Then by the end of elementary, Sarah got her voice back.

“Around 3rd grade I started vocal lessons with her and  by 6th grade I noticed a lot of improvement, and by that time I could speak correctly but I had to keep doing vocal exercises and using my voice or I might fall back to having vocal nodules again. I also have to get tested constantly, and they put a scope through my nose and vocal cords, I had to do that in November and I’m happy to say there are no signs for vocal nodules and they are healthy to this day, “ saids Sarah.

It was a troubled time for Sarah, especially when she was so young, but it helped shaped her into being the positive and hardworking  girl she is today.

“It was a lot to go through at the time, I still think about it, but it kind of pushed me to keep going knowing that if I can go through something like that and reteach my body how to work, I’m pretty sure I can get through something like an essay in english being thrown at me.”

Sarah got through a rough time, and now is more positive than ever. Always smiling, saying hi to everyone in the halls, and making people feel better, and fortunately Sarah has the joy of singing on a stage in front of a big crowd, and hopes to reach the audience with every performance

“Every single time I get on a stage or go do a performance like a choir concert or singing for my church, brings joy to my heart knowing that music is so powerful and can relate to someone emotional. Like through a song or lyrics or melody can touch someone and help them forget about something bad in their life at that moment and take you to a different place brings me joy that me singing a few minutes in church can make a person in the audience feels at peace.”

Now Sarah is working very hard towards her goal of having a career in music, hoping she’ll be a music teacher or a music therapist, and hopes to be a positive light for others.