Nerves flood through her as she stares at herself in the mirror of the girls restroom. All she needs to do is get on stage, then it will be a piece of cake. She is ready. Freshman Harveen Kaur has competed internationally many times.

Since before she could talk, Kaur has been singing everything. She has gone to competitions up until the end of 2015, and has won various titles.  

“Before I get on stage what goes through my head is the regular chills,” Kaur said. “I have to do good, I don’t want to mess up, there’s so many people counting on me, I have to meet their expectations. When I go onstage, then I’m breathing. ‘You can do this you’re not gonna back off right now. You’re on the stage, you will do this.’ Once the song starts, all I have to do is sing it one more time. When I start singing then I’m much more relaxed.”

Kaur always enjoyed singing anything from her everyday activities, to replicating notes from the piano. Her parents decided to take her to singing competitions. Since the age of seven she has gone to the NABC singing competition and brought home first place every year. In early 2011, at the age of eight, she went to the I Am Next Super Star international competition.

“It was interesting [because] there were a lot of celebrity singing judges from India who came, so I got a lot of exposure to how people judge, and how the [music video process] works, how you film it on camera, how you put it on T.V., that was my first time experience [with that],” Kaur said.

Although she received second place in that competition, she also went to the SRGNP Lil’ Champs North America 2015 in April 2015. Kaur placed in the top seven after traveling to Mumbai with the top 14. Being her biggest critic, she thought she could have done better.

“I used to think that singing was my passion for so many years, but what made me realize it actually [was] at this event last year,” Kaur said.

The event was called NABC and it took place in Houston. Kaur said she had been sad about only making the top seven in her previous competition, and this event was a bounce back for her. She learned that it isn’t the end of the world if she isn’t perfect.

“Every experience, good or bad, has shaped me into the person that I am,” Kaur said.  “Singing is truly my main personality. Everything about me has happened because of singing; my confidence, my extrovertedness, my voice. All the experiences have made a mark. Singing has allowed me to become more confident. If it weren’t for singing and performing so much, then I probably would’ve been a shy, reserved girl. I realized there’s a lot more to singing than your vocal talent.”

Kaur faces challenges as a singer, but focuses on improving. Kaur said her parents are her biggest inspiration to improve.

“The worst part about singing is when you do something really good, they build a higher expectation of you,” Kaur said. “There’s more pressure inside of you to meet this expectation or advance. When expectations get higher, and you get pressurized then it’s kind of weird. It all pays off though when you finally get on the stage. [My parents] are the ones that when I practice in front of them critique my singing. They tell me this is good or this isn’t good.

Singing is a passion for Kaur. She has embraced singing as a part of her, and uses it and sees it as a payoff for her work.  

“Some people consider singing as something different, something that they hear all the time, but they don’t value that,” Kaur said. “Singing is an art, that’s the main thing. It is an art just like how theater and painting is an art, singing is an art of your voice. Honestly, you just have to believe in yourself, that’s all you have to do really. No matter how bad your song actually is, you’ll be proud of yourself when you finish.”

In the future, Kaur hopes to continue singing and improving. Even though she has made sacrifices, like missing two weeks of school and standardized testing in the eighth grade, she feels they pale in comparison to her passion.

“I’m going to continue to grab any opportunities to showcase myself. If any one person in the audience notices me then that could lead to something else,” Kaur said. “It is a passion in my heart to become a singer, but that’s not what I’m focused on, it all depends on opportunities. I am doing other things as well, but singing is always, always going to be there. There are sacrifices that I’ve made but I feel like there’s something beyond that, that’s why I don’t feel them. I place singing at a higher value than those things.”