By Julia Truszkowski

Photo by Abby Burgess

Earbuds are common sights on school buses, in busy hallways, and wrapped around iPods for safekeeping. Music helps the day go by, alleviating stress and boosting moods for many high schoolers, including Kimberly Thompson ‘14.

“Music opens up my heart. It expresses how I feel,” gushed the self-proclaimed “diva queen.”

Thompson finds inspiration in popular artists such as Miley Cyrus to make music of her own.

“I’ve been singing since I was seven and I can sing almost everything I know,” she said. “I can take the high note and I can take the low note. I love being in choir and I love singing.”

In addition to participating in treble choir, Thompson composes music of her own and posts YouTube videos. While she has received much support from her close friends, this isn’t always the case online.

“Somebody commented on one of my videos and said, ‘why would somebody record this, of disability kids?’” Thompson said. “I’m not going to listen to it. I’m not going to let them break me down. I’m gonna stay strong and stay positive. I wrote a song about it.”

Since moving to West for her senior year, Thompson has found that there are more opportunities for her to do what she loves.

“This is the best school I’ve ever been to,” she said. “I get to do music class, drama, and choir…I get to take all the classes I like.”

Senior year will not be the last of Thompson’s singing career, as she will continue to pursue her dreams outside of high school. In fact, she plans to get some studio time this winter.

“We went to Pizza Ranch one time and [my peer helper] was

like ‘guess what is happening on December 7th?’ and I was like, ‘what?’ and they said, ‘Kim the singer at the recording studio for three hours.’ My food almost came out of my mouth, I was so shocked,” Thompson said.

Thompson found motivation in fellow West High student Faron Rush ’14, who was able to land a record deal after spending time in the studio.

“That could be me someday, I hope,” she said.

Regardless of whether Thompson’s plans pan out as she hopes, “this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” she said. “Singing is my passion.”