As the new year begins, new talent surfaces and demands our full attention. The campus Music Department offers this new talent in abundance. Isabel Kim-Feng, ’18, demonstrates a passion and a desire for her music and craft that is often rare to find in such a young student.

Kim-Feng came to the doors of FC as a sixth grader and joined the small elementary choir. As she matured, her tastes of music did as well.

“I?ve been at FC since sixth grade,” Kim-Feng said. “I joined choir as a sixth grader and got some exposure to music then. Now that I?m on the Intro Worship Team, I do a lot more then just vocals and singing.”

Joining the Intro Worship Team has allowed Kim-Feng to further diversify her talents and improve herself to an even greater extent.

“I used to just be a vocalist,” Kim-Feng said. “But since I?ve joined Worship Team I learned how to play the guitar and the keyboard with help from some of the teachers.”

Scrambled and confused about what she will choose, Kim-Feng answers the difficult question of which instrument she prefers.

“I like guitar the most,” Kim-Feng said. “Wait, no, I like voice the most. It just makes sense to me seeing as how I’ve been singing for a very long time. Wait, singing isn?t really an instrument. I like guitar, I just think it sounds better than the keyboard.”

Despite the confusion of her favorite instrument, Kim-Feng shows a great deal of focus and determination not typically seen in an average junior high student or high school student.

“I’ve always wanted to become a worship leader,” Kim-Feng said. “I used to watch the worship leaders at my church, and I wanted to be like them. So being a part of Worship Team has really given me a lot of exposure to what that is like, it?s been fun though.”

Dreams of becoming a worship leader did not simply manifest over night. Watching, learning and admiring past performers makes dormant passions come to life.

“Watching performers at my church really inspired me,” Kim-Feng said. “I liked to watch the worship leaders perform and I thought this is something I might like to do when I grow older.”

Kim-Feng?s aspirations, focus and passion have been made abundantly clear, so clear it is hard not to take notice. Music Director, Michael Ogdon, has noticed such fiery passion in the young junior high student.

“Isabel has made a lot of progress as she has grown and matured with opportunities she has embraced this year,” Ogdon said. “Even with all of this growth, Isabel has always remained herself, adding happiness to all we do in the worship intro class.”

Though Kim-Feng has shown great promise and an incredible amount of growth in her young life, Odgon notices there can be room for improvement.

“Sometimes I think Isabel can be a bit timid,” Odgon said. “But for her to worship God correctly, she needs to have courage, mixed with humility and honesty. All she needs to do is ‘Walk in a manner worth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.'”

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @RRoggenstein. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.

For more features, read the Jan. 21 article, Resource bar: One-stop shop offers students support.