Studio710

• 2014, freshmen year of high school. A rough year for most, but exponentially drastic for reasons beyond my control. 2014 was when I started to use my words and writing as an escape from the reality of what was happening at home. It’s how I learned to control my emotions, hide them, and ensure no one saw them. I knew no one like me, I was alone. However, 2014 was the year I found someone who understood me. I took a risk, quite a big risk if i’m being honest, but that risk brought me to learn the value of opening up and sharing how I feel. Sometimes this happens in the weirdest situations with the strangest individuals, but you’ll find out, it’s the people you’d never think would make an impact on you, who mean the world to you in the end. 

• From 2015-2017 the world was opened up to me and I to it. My heart was led in a different direction than I could ever imagine. My passion for music encapsulated my life and I found a strong group of individuals who banded together to make some magic happen. We were a ragtag group of individuals who were trying to release our light into the world, but were still a bit too depressed to figure out how to do so. I found joy in being open and sharing with the people around me because in doing so I found a community of individuals just as broken as I was. And in 2017, my junior year of high school I started my first blog, a safe space where I shared my thoughts on things and went too deep into metaphors. Just ask Trinity who still remembers the post I made about the importance of rusted pennies and how they relate to broken people. That’s extremely depressing now that I think about it, but hey it was an outlet and I utilized it. I went from posting everyday for 3 months to silence. I’m sure my 5 followers were a bit confused, but hey shout outs to those 5 viewers who are still there today… y’all are the realist. 

• 2018. Senior year. A year I will never forget, one that kept on getting better and better and better, until the world exploded, but still somehow kept getting better. A year dedicated to making my dreams come true, of getting away from Manheim, PA, moving to bigger, better things and finding the confidence to do so. A year filled with joy and adventure with friends who meant the world to me. A year where I learned a lot about myself and reflect on to this day. A year filled with a shattering death of a relative I didn’t know mattered as much to me as they did. A year filled with triumph, success and overcoming. 

  Around this time was when I participated in missions work in Philly. This led me to be called to cities and make a lasting impact on communities. Little did I know, I would change my major 2 years later to include community development and have the opportunity to intern with some really amazing non-profits that have brought my work to life. This trip changed my views on what it means to be a Jesus-follower and devote myself to the word. This trip made me remember another retreat I went on in 8th grade with the theme: Be Equipped which is now a founding principle in my life and one I hold dear to my heart. 

  Freshmen year of college kicked off a year of independence and excitement. I released blog number 2 and thought this was the one that was going to make it. Five heated posts later and was left to the dust, its for the better trust me on that one. 

• That brings us to 2019 and 2020. Two years that many will remember and most likely despise for different reasons. However, these two years were the epitome of my self-devastation leading to self-growth. The years where the world was flipped upside down and I was just trying to figure out what thoughts in my head were really my own rather than those implanted inside of me. A year of questioning my being, my sexuality, and my faith, yet a year of self-discovery of all the same things. Through this darkness, blessed the light of Studio710. I found myself within these walls, and I continue to grow within them. They are a part of my story and I am proud to be able to call this space my home.

Studio710 is founded on two trial runs of self-expression and years of self-discovery, self-recovery, and self-enlightenment. For those who have been here from the beginning I thank you unconditionally for your support and for the people I have found along the way, I thank you for taking a risk on me when I didn’t know who I really was. For those who are finding me now, once again welcome, and you guys are the beginning of this spiralling domino effect, of sharing. This is a safe space where story and tradition is broken down into reflection and discovery. 

My goal and my mission is to “Be equipped to live a life of love”. Stemming back to a retreat I barely remember and probably didn’t listen to, but have a shirt to prove it, this notion of being equipped has stayed with me. I have dedicated my life to being equipped with the knowledge and understanding of my coreself and beliefs so I can better defend against those who oppress me. The second part of this statement is a call of action for the future. I hope to live a life of love where love is given and received equally to everyone. I hope to redefine the term “love” from an ace, jesus-following perspective. I hope to shed light on and deconstruct Christianity and take back a faith that has led to the oppression of all folks. I am here to be a voice in the future and to build a community of like minded individuals who are equipped to go into this battle and share their own story of love. Studio710 started as a way to release my thoughts and emotions during a time where my voice wasn’t heard and is now my platform to project that voice into the hearts of anyone willing to listen. 

Come. Be equipped, be the light, and be heard.