One trip to Disneyland at the young age of five was all it took for Julia Finder ’25 to discover her true calling: creating immersive experiences. The attractions. The music. The characters. She loved it all. But what she adored most was the Light Magic Parade. “I can still sing the main song,” says Finder.
Category: Student Profiles
In first grade, when people asked Autumn Rose ’25 what she wanted to be when she grew up, she had one response: singing and performing (except for a few months when she wanted to be an astronaut). “I enjoyed performing so much,” says Rose. “I distinctly remember making a project about it to present to
When Gina Muzi ’24 discovered a letter she had written to herself years ago, it talked about one thing: playing Division I soccer. Today, she’s living her dream as a member of the varsity women’s soccer team at Northwestern. But sports aren’t her only interest: She’s just as passionate about the creative arts.
As the child of a special education teacher in China, Hongjin Chen ’24 says her mother helped her understand at an early age the value of loving and respecting those with physical and mental differences.
When Andrés Palacios Constanza ’25 reflects on his childhood in Guatemala, one of his favorite memories involves drawing. He and his brother attended arts classes as a chance to find their creative voices, and this gave Constanza the opportunity to draw freely for the first time. He loved it so much that he envisioned his
When AJ Schwartz ’26 moved to Chicago to study theater at Loyola University, they found more than the right degree program in The Windy City—they also found their creative community. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2017, Schwartz served as a freelance director and arts administrator for some of the city’s most notable storefront
While Zahra Freedman ’24 was always surrounded by music as a child, she often felt like it was being placed in front of her through structured experiences like classical piano and band lessons—not like she was intentionally moving toward it. Instead, she enjoyed creative writing, participating in national writing competitions and developing short stories on
When Minh Hà Millie Lê ’24 was young, she imagined a career as a difference-maker. A Vietnamese third-culture kid, Lê has always been curious about people. She participated in student government and served as student body president, volunteered, and was part of Model United Nations, hoping to one day serve on the United Nations (UN)
With a fascination for film and an undergraduate degree in economics, Yuhan Liu ’24 felt like she was always looking for common ground between her studies and her love for creative industries. Although she was studying finance in college, pursuing a bachelor’s from Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics, she didn’t forget how much
Growing up, Ali Almansour ’24 could often be found amid groups of students who were eager to hear him read his latest short story or pore over a journal entry he had written over the weekend. “I’ve always felt like writing is my superpower,” says Almansour. “I love using writing to tell people about experiences