Hi, I’m Shakti Ann, a senior in High School. I am an aspiring singer, songwriter, designer, and content creator. I know it already sounds like I’m all over the place, but hopefully with your support I can achieve my dreams. Ever since 2nd grade I have been filming and editing videos for my Youtube Channel (@Shakti Ann.) I love scripting, and sharing content—especially about mental health.

Sadly, because of how out there I have been, I was severely bullied in elementary and middle school. This has prompted me to want to create Bullying Support Groups in the community. For me it is important to always be kind, and stand up for others, as I wish I was stood up for. As a victim of bullying, I push to put off content that relates to others, makes them feel heard, and makes my viewers know they are not alone. Sometimes just knowing that is enough for people to push forward.

My passions in life are to make content, design, and create music. I love to repurpose clothing, and make them into new designs. You should see the walls in my room are covered with sketches of dresses, suits, and even bathing suits. Connecting this to my dream my goal is to create a fashion brand that mixes streetwear with casual clothes and have an inclusive size range with incredible runway shows. In the aspect of content creation, music is another part of my dream. I write around two songs a week, and try to find chords on them for the guitar. Music has always been a great way for me to feel heard, to understand that someone else shares the same pain or struggles I do. Before even starting to make music, I would go on walks for hours and hours a day, and listen to it. Music was there for me, when I was not comfortable with talking to anyone about my struggles, so now I want my music to be there for others. I write songs about how to face death, heartbreak, living your life to the fullest–to even topics like feminism.

Now that you know me, you may understand why I wanted to come to Freestyle. Freestyle is able to give me opportunities I could only dream of, having access to a state of the art music studio where I can record music, to teaching me how to digitize my designs on a tablet so others can understand my clothing designs. All the tools, and the support from teachers passionate about their craft is going to help set me on the path to actually achieve my dreams, and understand the technical parts behind the scenes. I’m so excited, and grateful that I was able to take advantage of this opportunity, and was accepted. I’m ready to start making my dreams a reality!