I loved Amy Carothers's article "Thank You, Google". She talks about how one Google search changed her life, taking her to New York for a Teen Ink writing program. That little moment on her computer had such a huge impact on her life, and I can relate.

One Google search had an impact on my life, too. It made me way more confident in my singing voice. It wasn't entirely the search; it was partly the forced solo I got in my school's choir a year before, but hours on the computer made a huge difference in my life.

I've always loved singing, I was just always terrified to sing in front of people. I would sing 24/7... as long as I was alone. As long as no human could hear me and my audience was no more than the objects around my house. I never thought I was good enough, always comparing my voice to others who were obviously better than me.

I was forced into a solo at my school's Christmas concert last winter, and that helped. Hearing my voice fill up the room made me feel something. It was wonderful. However, I was still hesitant about crowds and having all eyes on me, judging me silently as they listened to me belting out dumb pop songs. Then, one day, I searched up covers of songs on Google and came across The Voice Kids.

I watched video after video of kids around my age singing in front of so many people, being judged, and something in me changed. I thought, I could do that too. After that, I was begging for solos in choir, being told I wasn't allowed more because others needed them as well. All I wanted was to perform.

Last week, I performed with my school's choir at a spring concert. I had two solos in songs for choir, and my friend and I sang a duet. People gave me lots of compliments after, and someone else told me that I reminded them of a jewel! I know I'm not Lana del Rey or Marina Diamandis, and I'm definitely not as good as the people in Glee, but it felt amazing.

A single Google search changed Amy's life for the better, and it helped me find my voice. It's amazing what you can learn about things, and yourself, on Google.