All students have dreams and ambitions that they would one day like to achieve, but most wait until they finish school in order to do so. Jessy Brindley, a first year Innis student, isn’t waiting until graduation to make her dream of becoming a professional singer come true. Originating from London, Ontario, Jessy gained an interest in singing at a very young age, thanks to her parents’ influence.

Reflecting back, she says, “my dad was in a band, my mum put me in Church choir with my sister, and before that, I started my own girl group in the fourth grade and would put on shows.”

This aspiring singer doesn’t just perform in front of family and friends, she wants to make it professional and is always auditioning for various contests and record deals. In 2007, she auditioned for YTV’s Karaoke Star Jr., in 2010 it was for Canada’s Got Talent, in 2013, K-pop Star. She continues to audition to the present day.

Arriving to the bustling city of Toronto, Jessy has not- even for a moment – shied away from the mic. In her five months at U of T from September to February, she has performed eight times on campus. At Harold’s House, she’s always able to capture the audience’s attention with her stage presence and jokes. As she gains popularity, she gets asked to perform her signature ballads at other colleges or fundraising events on campus. She has sung at the UC and Victoria open mic nights, as well as for the U of T China Care (UTCC) fundraiser this semester.

Acknowledging reality, Jessy says she chose to come to U of T because “making it big is really hard. I want to get a degree first and hopefully have a stable job to lean back on.”

Currently, her major is undeclared, but she’s leaning towards Diaspora and Transnational studies. When I asked why, she said, “I like working with people and would like to work overseas, maybe teach English in South Korea.”

Enamoured with Korean culture, Jessy is a fan of K-pop and K-dramas; some of her auditions have even been for Korean record labels. Through K-pop, Korean shows, and her introductory Korean course at school, she is able to converse, read and write in Korean quite well after a relatively short period of time.

Brindley has a limitless amount of ambition and works relentlessly to reach her goals. She has a diverse set of capabilities and as the University of Toronto preaches to its students, is aiming to be boundless, beyond school borders.

Featured image courtesy of Fang Shu