ALYSSA BERNALIt all started when a San Antonio singer and songwriter Alyssa Bernal launched her YouTube channel back in May 2006, hchsknights08, and effortlessly caught the attention of Pharrell Williams including 400,000+ fans around the world. Alyssa was an everyday ordinary teenager who had a remarkable voice and had a passion for music. She began covering popular songs from different genres and began to write her own originals. One year later, Star Trak Entertainment brought her album live on iTunes and a CD.
She taught herself to play the guitar, and soon added more videos on YouTube. She covered mainstream songs such as Marry You by Bruno Mars, Take A Bow by Rihanna and Chasing Pavements by Adele. Soon enough, her fan base grew to 405,876 subscribers with 87,751,822 total upload views. Her 89 videos thus far has been equally popular as she captures each artist's song with a new twist. Her approach is fun, fresh, and bold. Fans young and old were impressed and this awarded her to be #17 Most Subscribed (Of All Time).
Alyssa was first approached by platinum-selling artist Pharrell Williams but she accidentally neglected him. However, his persistency and continuous attempts to reach her finally allowed her to launch her album.
"Finding a new talent like Alyssa is so exciting to me," Pharrell Williams said. "She is a true musician with an incredible voice."
As a young girl, Alyssa watched her father perform on stage and was amazed, hoping she can experience similar opportunities one day. Her naturally shy attitude is quickly turned into excitement when she goes on tour and interact with fans. Her album is very personal and talks about distance love, homesickness, and the mood is quite calm and easygoing.
Visit hchsknights08 for Alyssa Bernal's YouTube channel.
Last summer, I had the opportunity to travel across the coast with my fellow classmate, Andrew, and other students from my district. The ILC selected six of us, two from Hercules, two from De Anza, and two from Pinole, to Brown University in Rhode Island. Brown is one of the most pretigious schools nationwide and is highly respected by all. Like most, I like Brown's curriculum the most-- directing one's own education. Because they allow students to "shop" for classes, and choose their own 
classes to satisfy their major, students are more engaged in what they learn because they are interested in their subject, not required. Here is a view of Rhode Island where the entire town was gathered to enjoy the annual WaterFire Show. This show presents 100 bonfires on top of the three rivers that join together. Young and old, everyone comes out to enjoy a night of warmth, music, and a unique experience.
The Summer@Brown program was more of a life experience than a learning experience. I was able to learn about economics taught by Professor Li, but also gained an insight on college struggles, how to manage my time wisely, and how to approach obstacles. On the left are four Brown students and each one of them talked about how they came about Brown and what they are currently doing. This seminar was really welcoming and I felt as if they were my age. I connected to them and they weren't embarrassed to tell us about their background, ups, and downs about college. 
Pictured here on the right is my TA, Josie Chen, my professor, Professor Li, and Andrew who is my classmate from Hercules High. I studied International Financial Marketing and Investments for three weeks where we created portfolios and powerpoints to display a company's profile. We were asked to incorporate standard deviation, risks, bonds, stocks, mutual funds, etc. to our presentations. I chose Fiat as my company. Now, I understand how difficult and challenging it can be to be working in finances. It can get really tough and the numbers can get really big. After taking this course, I discovered that finances isn't my interest nor strong point. I'm glad to know this about myself because I would hate to major in this and change my major midway through the year. 
Without the ILC, I would have never thought of visiting Rhode Island or applying to Brown. Everyone knows about Harvard and Stanford, but what people miss out on is how Brown encourages students to pave their own educational path themselves. Counselors, professors, and TA's are available to aid them whenever they get stuck, but the ultimate decision comes down to themselves. Only Brown carries this mission. My three weeks of travelling, visiting other campuses, dining, dorming, learning, and meeting new faces became the best summer of my life. I can truly say that Brown gave me an experience that I would of never imagined. Not only did I learn inside the classroom, but also outside the classroom. I'm proud to say that I travelled to the other side of the coast by myself for the first time without my parents. This trip also tested my maturity level and confidence level, both of which I passed.
