Rebecca May is a senior at Morgan and next year she will be studying abroad at Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain for a whole year. She will be majoring in Vocal Performance. After her first year she will continue her education at Berklee’s campus in Boston. Rebecca will be leaving in the fall for Spain, and she said that when she graduates she’s most excited about the freedom and ability to collaborate with people who are interested and most passionate about music like her.

At Morgan, Rebecca is in the Anti-Defamation League which is a club that meets once a week to raise money that goes towards spreading awareness about various negative actions against minorities. She has also been going to the Community Music School in Essex where she studies with Cynthia Eggers. In the past, she has also been involved in CMEA, Regionals, choirs, and multiple plays through the community and ECA.

Rebecca’s passion for music started when she was little. Rebecca said she remembers being in the car with her Dad and preschool friend listening to Mozart’s Queen of the Night Aria. It stuck with her. She always loved older music and films. She shared that she loves The Wizard of Oz and the older styles of singing. She said “music is the expression. In order to have that expression you have to be passionate about what you do just in the day-to-day, and in your life and who you surround yourself with.” She’s interested in creating a life where she can be happy and express herself through music.

At Morgan, English teacher Eric Bergman had a true influence on her passions. She has known him ever since she was little because he is her best friend, Kristina Bergman’s Dad. She had Mr. Bergman last semester for Creative Writing, and she said it was the most interesting class she’s taken here at Morgan so far. They have the ability to write what they want to write and be as creative as they please. Rebecca also spends half of her time during the week at ECA, which is known as the Educational Center for the Arts, a public arts magnet high school in New Haven, Connecticut. She leaves Morgan around 2nd lunch and commutes to ECA. She takes a variety of classes there in the theater department. Rebecca said her biggest influence at ECA are the people and everyone in her senior class. She also said the environment is very influential too since she spends a lot of time in New Haven.

When asked what Rebecca is most proud of she said she’s most proud of getting into Berklee because it’s giving her a big opportunity to study in Valencia next school year. She is also proud of the life she has built herself filled with her many passions and not limiting herself creatively to pursue what fulfills her. Rebecca shared that if she were to give advice to her freshman self she would say “you don’t really know what you’re going to end up doing. You never really know what life is going to throw at you and who you’re going to meet.”

Rebecca’s favorite memory out of her senior year so far was working with her friends at the Essex Steam Train. She absolutely loves her job there and is so fortunate to get the opportunity to work with her friends. She has been able to enjoy going to work because of the environment there.