Hello, my name is Niles Holt and I am a student at Drew Charter School. My favorite subjects are math, science, orchestra, and engineering. I like to invest my time by improving as a musician, connecting with my family, reading, and exercising. I have a deep love for music and stories, and I love analyzing stories from anime and video games like God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2. Currently, I am studying jazz musicians like John Coltrane and Charlie Parker to deepen my understanding of jazz, improvisation, and music theory.
What do you hope to accomplish? What would you like to do for a career? How do you plan on accomplishing these goals? Will you attend college to get there?
I have a burning passion that fuels me every day; to become a world-renowned musician who is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time. I want to be documented in the history books next to all the musicians I idolize. My biggest inspirations are Stevie Wonder, Prince, and D’Angelo, and the more I studied their songs and watched them perform live, the more I determined that listening wasn’t enough. I needed to be able to do what they did. I soon realized that God put this passion inside of me. He was not just calling me, but He was practically begging me to realize that this is His plan for me. Music fills my soul and I cannot fathom devoting my life to studying anything else; it is more than something I want to study, it is who I am.
In addition to my dreams of becoming a world-renowned musician, I plan on becoming a successful content creator. I plan to use my platform to share my journey of self-discovery and use my example to inspire others to improve their lives, work towards their dreams, and live lives filled with love and passion. I also plan to document my musical journey so that people can see my improvement in real-time.
To achieve my goals, I understand that I must work hard AND smart, and the smartest decision I could make to achieve my dreams is enrolling in a prestigious HBCU, and studying music and business. Majoring in music will fast track my musical development, and taking business courses will prepare me to achieve success in the music industry. Although I can accomplish these dreams on my own, I understand that there are invaluable benefits to joining a community that supports each other. Attending an HBCU provides me the opportunity to immerse in, learn about, and positively influence black culture. Additionally, I would be surrounded by passionate, dedicated, and like-minded people, fostering an environment where all of us can learn and grow. Iron sharpens iron as one person sharpens another, and I desire to be in an environment that stimulates both communal and individual improvement.