Standing in a professional recording studio, headphones over her ears, nine-year-old Isabelle Couture holds her breath as she waits for the director’s cue. As the instrumental track hums in the background, she steps up to the microphone and delivers her first notes. 

Over a decade later, Couture, now a 22-year-old student teacher on campus, continues her path as an audiophile and aims to pass down her passion to her students. Her taste spans genres including alternative, pop, and indie music, and artists such as Harry Styles, Wallows, and Phoebe Bridgers. “I really got into music more in the pandemic. I started listening to a lot more stuff,” she said. “I kind of just started with a Spotify-made playlist. It gave me a lot of artists’ names and just a vibe of music that I really liked.” 

Much of her musical upbringing stems from her mother, an active member of local bands in her hometown, Melrose, Massachusetts. Growing up, Ms. Couture was surrounded by car rides filled with the latest songs, open exchanges of music recommendations and rock bands. “My mom and I have very similar tastes. It’s always been a back-and-forth, she said. “I used to listen to the music she loved, but now I share my own recommendations.”

Ms. Couture’s mother nudged Ms. Couture, a budding musician, into a professional recording studio – not once, but twice. The first time, she sang backup vocals for a song titled “Spooky Band.” “I got this whole awesome experience of singing into the microphone and having the headphones on and waiting for the cue. And that just gave me such a huge appreciation for music that I still have today,” she said. 

Although she didn’t go down her mother’s path, music remained dominant in her life. “I wanted to learn how to play the drums for a really long time, so that’s a musical aspiration of mine, ” she said. “I took an Introduction to Piano course last year in college.”

She also dipped her toes into composition in college through a one-minute composition project. “I put so much effort into it just playing around with the timing and different instruments and effects that you can do on the sound,” she said. 

Outside of the studio and the classroom, Ms. Couture’s love for music translates into her yearning for concerts. “I go to at least one or two concerts every year,” she said. “It’s where I spend most of my money.” 

Now, as a student teacher, she aims to transfer the same fervor to her students. On a school trip to Jeju, she bonded with students over shared music interests. “At the airport, Kelly, Izzy, and I were having an in-depth conversation about music,” she said. “They said that it’s so nice to know a teacher who has music tastes similar to theirs.”

Beyond the arts, Ms. Couture found herself drawn to travel after she opened herself to studying abroad in her sophomore year at university. When she took a semester at the University of Edinburgh, a university in Scotland, she met students from across the globe. 

Throughout the year, she ventured around Scotland with her newfound friends. “I really enjoyed visiting Edinburgh Castle. I went there once with my roommates and once with my friends but I got something new out of it each time. They have a lot of different displays outside and it’s up on a hill where you can see the entire city and out over the water.”

Her passion for music continued in Edinburgh – once, one of her roommates, a violinist, invited Ms. Couture to watch his live act. “We bought tickets to go watch his performance and it was in an old first church called Greyfriars Churchyard which is a famous church in Edinburgh,” she said.

The show left a lasting impression. “We were all just so entranced by the performance. It was really, really good,” she said. “It was a really good bonding moment for our flat.” Even 5,000 kilometers away from home, music enabled Ms. Couture to bond with those in her support network. 

Despite her love for music, a fair part of her journey revolved around teaching. Her pathway into the field began with her family’s deep roots in education. “I’ve kind of always wanted to be a teacher. My mom was a children’s librarian for a long time,” she said. “My grandma was a teacher for a long time. She also did international teaching.”

In college, she deviated from her original plan of science education and shifted her focus to social studies. “Social studies is just something I didn’t think I would be teaching,” she said. “But I’ve been with Mr. Bergan and Mr. Lipsky, and they’ve both been great mentors to me. And it’s very helpful in letting me blossom as an educator.” 

She reminisced on a favorite memory with her sixth-grade World History class. “I have been teaching the sixth graders about world religions, and that’s been really fun. I got to show them a movie that I really like because there’s only two kids there: The Prince of Egypt, which is all about the story of Moses and Judaism,” she said. 

Beyond educational experience, Ms. Couture enjoyed her debut as the middle school boys’ volleyball team coach at the SKAIS (Southern Korean Association of International Schools) tournament. “It was just so fun and nerve-racking to coach them. I was so emotionally invested in them doing well, and I was just so proud of them,” she said. “So it’s definitely a top moment for me.”

“Learning about different cultures through music has helped me become more interested in the world and wanting to become an international teacher,” she said. As she continues her journey as an educator, her passion for music and travel will continue to shape both her experiences and the experiences that she shares with those around her.