Change has always been a steady part of Joelle’s life. Before arriving at Stevenson, she lived in Chicago, Hong Kong, Cambodia and Arizona, learning early on how perspective can shape one's experience of new places and challenges.
Through all of the movement, music remained a constant. “I started music when I was really young. I used to sing hymns with my mom around the piano, and I think that definitely started me on music. I always wanted to learn another instrument. When I moved back to the States, I got that opportunity and joined the orchestra, and I thought it was really fun.”
For Joelle, music was never about chasing perfection. “I think being a musician means you always strive for perfection. But in music, there is no perfection, because you can always do something more, something greater and make it more pretty. I think it’s really the process of learning through it - knowing that you’ll never achieve that perfection, but still striving toward it.”
That mindset shaped how Joelle approached more than just orchestra.
During middle school, she began to notice a pattern. “I saw that a lot of my friends would drop out of orchestra. They would join, then think they didn’t have enough time or feel like they weren’t good enough to stay, so they dropped out in favor of other things.”
“At Stevenson, I went back to my middle school, Twin Groves, and helped tune instruments in the orchestra. Seeing the middle schoolers, especially as a high schooler with improved skills and more experience, made me realize that I could help and tutor them.”
With that, Joelle began building something of her own. “I started High Note to tutor middle schoolers at no cost and help them continue in orchestra, and love music. Having one-on-one support was really helpful for me, and I think it’s really helpful for other students as well.”
“I gathered a bunch of my friends and asked if they would be willing to tutor, and a lot of them said yes.”
Getting the program off the ground wasn’t immediate. “When we started planning, everything was great. We made a website, and then we started, but there were no lessons. No students wanted to come. We had all the mentors, the high school tutors, but we didn’t have any students. As a new program, we didn’t have any credibility.”
“I had to ask for more help. We had already reached out to my middle school and my friend’s middle school, but we never asked for help from my orchestra directors at Stevenson. So I asked them, and they helped us forward more emails to the other middle schools as well, and we were able to get a lot more interest.”
As High Note grew, so did its impact. “We had an email from a parent - a really nice email. She said, ‘My child auditioned for a chamber orchestra, and he didn’t make it the first time.’ Then he had one of our cello tutors, and he was able to make it in at the end. He directly credits our mentor for making it in.”
“For the students, it’s nice to see a couple of names that I recognize stay in the orchestra program and see them at Stevenson as well.”
The impact Joelle has seen through High Note has shaped the way she looks at challenges - not just in music, but in everyday moments as well.
“I think we should encourage each other to think beyond our own circle and broaden our horizons. For every complaint we have, we could also have a sense of thankfulness.”
“Moving around makes small troubles feel less significant. When you put yourself in a broader perspective, we’re just one small piece, and even the things that feel so significant to us aren’t as significant in the broader world.”
What began as a life shaped by change has become one guided by perspective - a lens Joelle carries with her in music, leadership and the way she shows up for others.
