What is your name and grade? Hi, my name is Andrea Hernandez and I’m a junior. 

What are some of your personal accomplishments? Some of my personal accomplishments are mostly through choir. I would say some of them were going to Egypt last summer for two weeks, and we got to sing with a famous person over there. I forgot her name, I think her name is Nesma, and I also sang at the United Center twice, once at a Bulls game singing the national anthem with my choir and also we sang with the band Eagles. It was probably a year or two ago. I usually do a lot of events for church and once a month give or take choir-wise we hold something called RJO – Red Jacket Optional – in which we raise a lot of money. We do that every year around October, it’s one of the biggest events that we have. Something that’s coming up is called Paint the Town Red, which is in the J. Pritzker pavilion. It’s gonna be on May 25, so right after school ends and I’m very excited about that. I remember when I was younger I would always watch the big kids go up there and perform, and I actually have a solo this year so I’m excited for that. 

What led you to choir? So music’s been a part of my life even before choir ‘cause I would always sing when I was really young at two or three years old, my parents put me to sing at church and said like, get up there and sing, and then my mom found a program that was called Chicago Children’s Choir at the time and she thought it was a good idea for me to get in ‘cause it wasn’t just singing, it was also dancing and building a community and such. I started there sometime in middle school, like sixth or seventh grade at Rogers Park, I’m still in it now and just recently this past year got changed to United Voices Chicago.

What are some opportunities you took on? In life, I think I’ve been very fortunate to have many opportunities because I know that not everyone gets chances of opportunities. Music opened me to opportunities that I never thought I was gonna be able to do, like going to Miami, or go Kentucky and spreading this organization and getting to be an inspiration to little kids and older people alike, and I never thought I would get to the point where I would go on SNL, and if it wasn’t for my mom pushing me to go to choir all the time, I wouldn’t be here right now so I just feel like I’m very fortunate that I got those opportunities. 

Who is your inspiration? I have to thank my mom out here because she’s the one that put me in choir because I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to get in it because I was gonna get overwhelmed and I was scared of talking to new people but I’m really glad that she pushed me to do that.

Do you have any pets? I do! I have a dog, she is a Yorkie mix, not sure what the mix is I just know she’s a Yorkie, she is ten or eleven, I’ve had her for many years now actually since before I joined the choir so it’s been a while, and I love her so much, her name is Lily. 

Are you involved in anything academically? I used to play soccer when I was a Freshman and a little bit in my Sophomore year but I had an injury so I couldn’t play anymore. I got more involved in choir. I’m not in the choir at this school but I am in Viking Strings, and I’m in the orchestra program here in symphonic with Ms. Paige, and in Viking Strings, we have small groups, and I formed my own group with some of my junior friends and a senior and we are actually going on a field trip and we’re gonna perform a piece. It’s been really fun with them. Some of them are actually over there right now and we love practicing together. We usually go during lunch or study hall but the main thing I do after school is either choir or Viking strings here at school. 

What are some of your hobbies? Usually, I’m not even joking, it’s usually just music or singing, or trying to learn guitar or piano. Some of the things I like to do though, I love going out with some friends and I love being outside walking and breathing some fresh air. I like playing different sports and I love baking, arts, and painting, but mostly music. 

What is your current career path? I want to go into music when I’m older; that’s what I wanna major in so I’m heavily focused on trying to learn new things and explore that area to see what specifically I’d like to do– I’m thinking about composition. 

How do you feel about becoming a rising senior? I’m very sad, because we lost a year because of COVID, and I feel like I lost a chance to experience some things here but it’s a new beginning though unfortunately, I might not be here next year. I might be transferring to another school, but I hope that’s not the case ’cause I have so many friends here that are basically my family so I’m dreading it, im dreading for the school year to end because all of that is coming up really soon and we’re rushing off to college so everything’s moving really fast after COVID so im overwhelmed a little bit.