She couldn’t focus on her thoughts. Her emotions screamed, overlapped, and intertwined inside her head. Flashes of furious reds and downcast blues grappled against one another, fighting over what emotion she truly felt. She knew what she had to do. 

Alysa Renacia is a 17-year-old senior at Roosevelt High who loves to sing.

She enjoys singing at school and home, but her favorite place to sing is at church.

“When I sing, I feel anxious, yet as time passes by, singing becomes fun and enjoyable,” Renacia explains.

 She has been singing at Grace Bible Church Honolulu since middle school, but for Renacia, singing isn’t just for fun. Singing is her way of letting out her emotions.

“I first noticed the positive impact of singing when my mood became uplifting or happy whenever I was feeling down,” Renacia expresses.

Renacia was taught to sing by her mom, Rashell Ito, at a very young age. 

“Since she was little, she loved music and singing. It helps her to express herself and brings joy into her life,” R. Ito says.

Renacia describes the feeling of singing as “freedom,”, as it allows her to freely express her emotions.

“It helped my mental health by allowing me to vent through singing and expressing those canned feelings,” she says.

When it comes to support, Renacia’s friends and family are always there to cheer her on. Her 9-year-old sister, Alana Ito, says Renacia sounds like Ariana Grande when she sings.

“My sister’s voice sounds a little good,” A. Ito says. “I mean it’s good. And she inspires me cause I want to sound like Doja Cat.” 

R. Ito explains that Renacia has seen a positive change in her religion and in herself.

“She is always a genuine and forgiving person,” she says. “Some friends manipulate her. As she got older, she’d learned to be wiser and know whom to seek. That’s one of the major changes. She seeks and obeys God more.”

While Renacia still has her ups and downs, she is able to push through with music and her voice.

“Singing allowed me to release and express my emotions by feeling the music and singing what comes from my heart,” she adds. “It’s like the things you hold inside can be expressed through music, and singing is how I express my emotions when I don’t want to deal with it.”