I was on the verge of a breakthrough in New York for a lead role in Beauty and The Beast when I got the devastating news that I had to go back home to tend to my father. Growing up, I felt different from the beginning, but I never saw it as a problem before the bullying started. I grew more and more isolated and lonely to the point where I developed an eating disorder. My self-worth and image dropped by the day while I held on to the disorder to feel some sort of control in my life. After feeling joyful and determined after a journey of coming out as gay and pursuing my dream as a singer abroad, the hopelessness and loneliness came back to haunt me when I had to see my father die of dementia. See how the years abroad helped me build character and self-worth and how this made me feel safe in pursuing my dreams and settling my identity. Even though I felt devastated to lose my chance, I learned new depths of life while tending to my father. Once my father died, I decided to turn my experiences before he died into a career by starting the dementia choir. I had seen that music allowed people with dementia to live richer and more vibrant lives, and creating that for others helped me make space for my grief and build a more meaningful career.