As a second grade student, I saw a girl playing piano and leading a children's choir. They were performing the old Coca Cola jingle 'I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing.'

In that moment my world was magically transformed. I believed that if singing could make me feel this good, it could make the entire world feel just as good.

My mother was a voice teacher and for a number of years had patiently been urging me to practice. As I came home that day and breathlessly declared that I was going to teach the whole world to sing, she simply said, "Then you may want to practice a little more."