California trip an eye-opener for local student

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I was lucky enough to meet man who is changing countless lives — not only in his community, but across the country. His name is Josiah Bruny, a 31-year-old rapper who is also known by the name of “V.”

Bruny is the founder of Music Changing Lives, a nonprofit program “designed to offer mentorship programs for underprivileged and neglected children, helping them improve their chances of living a positive and successful life.”

The organization is based in Redlands, Calif., and is a safe and fun alternative to the drugs, violence and gang activity many of the local youth turn to when they have nothing else to do.

Music Changing Lives offers a multitude of opportunities for youth to be creative, such as learning music production and recording (there is a recording studio where Bruny teaches kids the ins and outs of the industry), sports, art, cooking and dance classes. There are also computer labs, pool tables, foosball, after-school tutoring, self-defense classes, gardening and much more. The organization also offers food at very low prices so that poverty-stricken students can afford a meal (vending machines offer snacks for as little as 20 cents).

There are no requirements for youth to use the facility, except that they maintain a minimum of 2.5 GPA and work toward earning privileges within the program (such as hour-long, uninterrupted recording sessions in the studio). No child is turned away — all are allowed in the program, but unless they follow the rules and apply themselves in school, they have not earned the privileges associated with hard work.

There are nearly 200 local kids who come to the facility each day, and the number fluctuates often, but for those who become truly passionate about their goals, Music Changing Lives is their ticket out of poverty and into a future career.

I met teens in the program who went from as low as a 0.6 GPA to a 3.0 or higher while in the program. Music Changing Lives is accomplishing its mission, one child at a time.

Bruny hopes to eventually have at least one facility in every major city in the United States, and beyond. Alaska would benefit greatly from a facility like this.

In the Valley, there aren’t a wide range of activities for teenagers after school, other than employment and religious organizations, and in my high school the majority of the students do not participate in either activity. I believe this is the main cause of so many of the local youth turning to drugs and alcohol — there simply isn’t much else to do.

Many students who are passionate about something do not have the means to pursue them; after-school lessons are very expensive in many areas, particularly in the arts.

If the Mat-Su Valley and/or Anchorage had a community center for teens, either directly affiliated to Music Changing Lives or similar to it, the crime rates most likely would go down, school attendance would be up, teens would be more motivated toward achieving their goals and drugs would be less of a problem. If we cannot eliminate the problem, we can at least create an alternative to it.

For more information on Music Changing Lives, visit musicchanginglives.org.

Rachel Clark is a senior at Wasilla High School.