Comet Maupin wasn’t born a musical prodigy — in fact, they didn’t even consider themselves “good at singing” at first. Maupin’s commitment and love of music, however, has taken them through years of choir and brought improvement after improvement.
Now, it’s brought them to their new position as President of Tri-M, Valley’s music honors society.
“I’ve always just loved music, and it has always been a huge part of my life, especially with mental health,” Maupin said.
Maupin has been a part of Tri-M since their sophomore year and, in junior year, took on their first leadership role as historian, responsible for taking pictures and running the Tri-M social media.
As President, however, Maupin is now in charge of leading the board.
“It’s not necessarily choosing what to do,” they said. “It’s to facilitate the members to actually run it and to encourage growth in the music community.”
Similar to the National Honors Society (NHS), Tri-M promotes music-related volunteer opportunities to its members and, occasionally, hosts performances or events.
One of Maupin’s goals as a leader is to reduce the fear surrounding learning music and performing.
“A lot of people get scared, especially for choir, that they’re not good at singing. But I wasn’t good at singing,” Maupin said. “It’s a skill everyone can learn.”
The fears Maupin had when they were younger have influenced their leadership style today, inspiring them to be a role model for others.
“When I was a freshman, I had a lot of anxiety when it came to how to do things, and I just want to be chill with everyone,” they said.
Although Maupin doesn’t necessarily plan on pursuing music as a career, they’ve begun posting their own covers of songs online. Music, one way or another, will stay in Maupin’s life.
