In the marathon of running between classes and extracurriculars, junior Israel Smith aimed to make a splash in the music industry during the summer of 2021.
Smith is a highly involved student on campus. He is president of the junior class, working to organize events on campus. He is a passionate artist involved in many creative projects. His involvement in Taylor Theatre has been consistant, including his most recently role as an understudy in their production of “Women of Lockerbie.” He stays busy spending time with friends and being active in the community of Taylor. However, his main artistic pursuit is music, particularly singing and songwriting.
"I have always enjoyed music,” said Smith. “It has been a passion of mine for a long time."
Smith’s journey to being a musician and songwriter began as a way to cope with his anxiety. Through his journey, it has also proved to be a great way to express himself.
Although he mainly sings, he can also play the piano and the saxophone. For a while, he didn’t think that he was good enough at his craft. That was until one of his high school friends convinced him to pursue singing and songwriting.
At Taylor, Smith began leading worship in a chapel band his sophomore year. Now, in his junior year, he regularly leads worship at chapel alongside his nine-member band.
“Chapel band is one of the most satisfying things that I have done here at Taylor,” Smith said.
After college, Smith’s dream job would be a marketer for a record label. This is because he wants to stay involved with music while serving people in other roles.
Smith's music career has openned many doors, and he is absolutely thrilled to see how the Lord plans to use his skills in the future. Outside of his music, Smith's personality is quite notable. Smith's posture around campus that exudes humility, kindness and leadership. He is someone that is constantly involved with things on campus and really shows what it means to be a leader on campus.
He is someone that loves and strives to get to know as many people as possible. When talking with others, he does not allow the conversation to be one-sided. He asks how people are doing, and he actually wants to get to know others on a deeper level as a person. When talking, he often asks people where they are from, what their major is and what their interests are.
Although this seemed insignificant, it truly speaks to his character, as both a leader and performer. He is someone that always strives to be a leader, but he also wants to engage others and honor their stories as well.
Finally, he also strives to inspire others well with his actions. Through his conduct and care for others, he aims to lead people closer to Jesus. Each opportunity he has to lead worship, he aims to hold a posture that reflects the Lord, hoping to honor the work that is being done to Smith and through him to others.
As a performer, you have to have extreme confidence and charisma when on stage. Even when things go wrong, performers have to remain calm, confident and reassured. Therefore through his opportunities to display his music in front of an audience, he seeks to inspire others to be themselves and to have a healthy and mature level of confidence. Smith uses his abilities and skills as both a leader and musician as a way to connect with others and for him to grow individually.
Furthermore, Smith uses his God-given abilities, skills, and talents to entertain, lead and inspire others. While he loves music, Smith main goal is to allow his music to be an act of worship to the Lord, and he hopes to always place this as a priority in his life.
