Articles by Rukiya Stewart

The Peck School of Music immediately greets you with sounds of instruments. The hallways are filled with melodies of violins and pianos as students practice and perfect their many different musical skills.

Just inside one of the multiple entrances to the building sits Azia Barner doing her math homework before her guitar class. Petite in frame, her guitar is almost as big as she is. While guitar playing runs in the family, this 20-year-old sophomore has more experience using her voice to make music.

“My sister has been playing it for a year or two and I decided to do it. I do like to sing though, so I’ve been singing a lot longer than playing any instrument,” said Barner.

“Gaga, you my best friend girl!” I look up and smile at my two-year-old god-daughter, Kylee. She’s watching her favorite cartoon “Doc McStuffins,” a show about the everyday adventures of a toy doctor, and she decided to hit me with the best line I’ve heard all day. Gaga, short for god-mother, is the name she’s […]