“I love to play music, and I love to compose. It’s sort of like my safe space. Whenever I have a really stressful day, I like to just sit down at the piano and just play whatever I want, it helps me relax. I didn’t start formally playing the piano until like second or third grade. But even before that, I was always at my little keyboard in my house just picking up the keys and playing some random stuff. I, actually, had the privilege of going to the University of Missouri composition summer class, this past summer. I got to write music that was played by professional musicians on a stage with an audience. That was just like a transformative experience because it was the first time I ever heard my own music played live. And in that moment something just clicked in my head. I was like, it would be really cool if I did [composing] like actually as a as my job because I find so much joy in just writing music, going to rehearsals, and listening to actual people play it, not just a computer program.” – Samir Shaik, 9