From adventures with her high school choir to inspirational role models, AP Secretary Joelle Buscher shares a variety of formative stories.

College:

JB: I think in high school, what I really wanted [was] a major that had a career attached to it. I felt like I really wanted a feeling of security in that way. So that’s one of the things that really drew me to nursing. But then, when I ended up needing to come home and go to De Anza [College], I sort of re-evaluated [because] I felt like I wanted something else. And so I started doing all these engineering classes. I took a bunch of Physics and Calculus [and] one computer programming class, that was really cool. [It was all] unnecessary for the rest of my studies, but I did that. But then it got really, really hard and I was also putting myself through school. And I guess if I could do it over again, I might wish [that] I’d done it differently, but it came down to: I didn’t have the time for a tutor because I would have needed to be working that time to afford my tutor. So I ended up just switching my major. And from there I was not sure — I just explored. I took fiction writing and joined choirs again. I was like ‘What do I want?’ ‘What do I like?’ ‘What am I good at?’ And I applied to some schools to be a fiction editor as my long term goal. So some English degrees, but some actually had writing and publishing programs.

JB: When I got into UC Santa Cruz, I knew that I was really interested in their feminist studies program, because Angela Davis sometimes taught over there. She wasn’t an official professor when I was there, but I did get to see her speak at one point. Well, I got to go see a film screening and she was there answering questions at the end — super cool. And there was another professor, Bettina Aptheker, and I had read her memoir, so I was very interested. I took two classes with her, which was awesome. In all my confusion about what I wanted to do — because I was strong in humanities [and] I was strong in science and math — I was confused about what I wanted. I guess I just started paying attention to what I was writing about in my research papers when I could pick my topic. What was I reading about, that was nonfiction that was really grabbing my interest? You know, what was causing a sort of spark in me?

JB: Because at this point, I’m past graduating on time with my classmates. It felt like I was falling off the path I was supposed to be on. I didn’t graduate in four years, so I really just wanted to get it done. But I also felt like I had arrived at something that I was really passionate about. Even though I was also working on my mental health at the time, I found that I could meet deadlines with the subject matter, so that’s really wonderful. And I feel like things I learned, I bring to my work here just in interacting with all of you wonderful people. You know, staff, students [and] parents.

Singing:

JB: I did choir my junior and senior years, and I kind of wish I’d started sooner. I really just didn’t think I could sing well. I don’t know, it wasn’t on my radar. But I was already in drama, and I auditioned for one of the musicals, and I got a callback for the lead, and I was so excited. [But] I could not hit those high notes. So, the next year I joined choir, and it was so much fun. Mr. Aaron is still the choir teacher over there [at Cupertino] and he was awesome. Not only did I learn so much about singing, but he also just made it fun. People wanted to be in the choir program, like ‘the cool kids.’ We even had a flourishing boys choir too, so that was a lot of fun. And senior year, I got to do the small mixed vocal [choir], which was extra fun because we got to go sing on field trips sometimes. It must have been in the winter time, [and] I don’t know who we were singing for, but we went somewhere and we came in with the ‘bum bada bum bum bada bum’ of the Ukrainian Bell Carol. We walked in while singing that — [that was] very cool.

EE: Do you remember where this was?

JJB: It was like somebody’s breakfast something … I don’t know. We were just like, ‘Woo! I’m not in math!’ We got to go on a trip down to Disneyland too. We did a choir competition down there. Being in choir really helped cement my friend group senior year. It really [helped me] open up [and] expand, it helped my confidence improve too. I tended to be a one friend girl, and you guys are inseparable, and you just know everything about each other. Adding choir [and] adding drama, and of course [since] it’s senior year, a lot of us have been together for so long.

EE: Do you have any favorite songs that you remember singing?

JB: We sang a song called “Earth Song” and it’s on Spotify. I found it and I put it on my “calm me down” playlist. Because it’s very soothing, and it also has really fun, precise little tone changes that would cause dissonance and would be like a half step up. “Earth Song” also just had a beautiful message about how life can be really hard and full of struggle and strife. And then I think it starts to say [that] music and “singing will be my refuge.” And it just goes on and it’s very lovely. As a foil to that song, we sang a song in Latin. That was very intense, very intense. This song’s in Latin, it’s very intense. And that was so much fun.

EE: Do you feel like you have any ways that choir has shaped you into who you are today?

JB: I sing every day and it is one of my favorite ways to express myself and to help work through difficult emotions. I’m extremely grateful for my musical education because it’s not only allowed me to keep developing this really fun skill throughout my life, but it’s given me a lot of tools to express myself creatively. I’ve written a couple songs on guitar for fun, it also [helps me] process something. [When] I come home from work sometimes, whatever big emotion it is, it can be happy, sad, angry [or] any of the hundreds of variations thereupon, and I can pick up my guitar or my little USB karaoke microphone and just sing my little heart out. And my neighbors haven’t complained yet.

EE: What is your thought process when writing songs?

JB: My thought process first is [that] I want to be completely alone so no one can see me or hear me because I don’t know what’s gonna come out. The only sort of training I have musically is vocally and with my guitar — it was given as a gift. And then I asked the internet ‘How do I play chords?’ And it told me and so when I write songs it starts with what I want to write a song about. I’ve tried to think, ‘Oh, I should write a song about that, that’s a great idea.’ But for me, in order to actually complete the project, it has to have a stronger feeling associated with it. First I’ll do the lyrics and then without even touching my guitar I’ll start singing them and maybe those will start to happen concurrently. I record that because I don’t know how to read music or the notation so I’ll just record myself singing snippets so I don’t forget. And then once I have that, I’m like, ‘Alright, guitar, what chords that I already know will fit this?’ It’s pretty simple, [I use] G, C, A minor, F. [They’re] very popular chords for pop songs because they’re amazing chords. That’s the whole process.

EE: What is one of your favorite songs? Or the message behind one of your favorite songs you’ve written?

JB: I wrote a song about how I had a crush on someone who didn’t like me back and how I was going to be just fine, thank you very much.

Volleyball:

JB: I love volleyball. My mom taught me a little because she played in high school, and then my older sister played, so [in] middle school I played [on] the seventh grade team and then [on] the eighth grade team. I had a positive male role model in my [eighth grade] coach. He wasn’t a teacher, he’s a veterinarian, but I remember Coach Sawyer was just such a solid guy and we really learned so much from him. We were so committed to this middle school volleyball team that we would come early before school and practice to get extra practices in. I remember riding my bike in the dark because it was the fall and the sun’s not up yet. And I was like, ‘I’m 13 years old, this is fine!’ But I really wanted to play.

JB: And then when I got to high school, I did JV for two years, and then over the summer after my sophomore year, I played one season of club volleyball, [where] I was lucky to learn a lot more skills. And then I came back and was on varsity my next two years. Junior year was great, because, by the end of the year, I had started a game in every single position on the court. Which [is] not common [but] to be fair, the reason why I started middle blocker was because the middle blocker stopped to get Starbucks on her way to the game so she wasn’t allowed to start. My coach sometimes called me “Jack,” because I was the jack-of-all-trades. [When he said] ‘Get over here, Jack’ I knew he was going to ask me to do something that wasn’t setting. And then, senior year I was co-captain. And that was just an excellent experience. My leadership skills — I don’t think I had any before that — and they just blossomed.

JB: On my club team, the girls were less than welcoming, and I don’t think it was a conscious thought at the time, but when I got to my senior year on varsity, there were some seniors who had been juniors on JV. And so it was the old team [and] the new folks coming in, and I just really wanted everyone to feel like they were part of the team, feel like they’re important and seen. And luckily, I was friends with most of them. I just really loved bringing everyone together and then running around the gym, singing, hitting the ball as hard as you can.

JB: [I also loved the feeling] before the game, doing the pre warmup routine and just feeling like ‘Oh my gosh, we’re so slick, we’re so coordinated.’ And then we would come down andthe last thing we would do before getting ready to go out on the floor, we’d be in a circle just slapping the floor with our hands, and then I would get to make my little pregame speech, which was always just off the top of my head but was always perfect. Kind of like ‘All right, guys, we’re gonna go out today…’ I don’t remember what it was, but [I have] very fond memories. And then when the season ended in the fall, it’s not the end of high school [because] you’re not graduating, but it was still [like] something momentous had closed. That last page, it was done.