Built for Balance: How 12 Years at Harmony Project Shaped Senior Student Eric
When Eric first walked into Harmony Project’s Hollywood site 12 years ago, the trombone he held felt bigger than he was. He didn’t have a road map for the future, but he knew he loved music and felt the sense of a community. Presently, that young boy recently graduated high school as a resilient leader, a captain of his high school volleyball team, and a first-generation college student heading to the University of California, Merced to study mechanical engineering.
Eric playing a tune on his trombone.
Eric's journey is a masterclass in perseverance. Raised in a family where hard work isn't just discussed but actively lived, he watched his parents work grueling hours and make sacrifices. He inherited that exact drive. Throughout high school, Eric balanced a relentless schedule: maintaining the academic honor roll, captaining sports teams, attending Harmony Project programming, college prep programs, and working part-time five days a week at Olive Garden. Coming home exhausted to a desk full of homework became his norm. The threat of burnout was real, and the isolation of missing out on traditional teenage social events was a heavy barrier to carry.
To survive and thrive, Eric leaned directly on the mindset he built at Harmony Project.
"Music taught me that improvement comes from consistency, not perfection," Eric shares. "That mindset helped me stay motivated when things felt overwhelming."
Learning the trombone taught him how to sit with discomfort, embrace mistakes as lessons, and understand that everyone grows at their own pace. It also taught him how to listen. True leadership, Eric discovered, is not loud or dramatic. It is steady and empathetic. Whether he was guiding a discouraged teammate to stay on the volleyball court or mentoring younger musicians who looked up to him just as he once looked up to his older brothers, Eric became an anchor of his community.
“Despite his many academic and non-academic responsibilities, Eric always shows up fully present, focused, and with a great attitude,” reflected his teaching artist, Dr. Alex Melzer. “I’m continually impressed by the way he carries himself; he may be more responsible and hard-working than many fully-grown adults that I’ve met.”
Eric posing in his graduate gown.
As Eric prepares to attend UC Merced, he has goals of not only attaining his bachelor’s degree, but also plans to pursue his master’s and doctorate goals in engineering. He views his future through the lens of a musician. He knows that a successful engineering project, much like an ensemble, relies entirely on trust and every person executing their part. With his Harmony Project foundation, Eric is ready to build real solutions for our world, proving that true harmony is about balancing hard work with perseverance.
About Harmony Project:
Harmony Project is a nonprofit that provides high-quality music instruction and social support to children year-round at no cost throughout community hubs in Los Angeles. As one of Los Angeles’ largest music education organizations, Harmony Project is dedicated exclusively to serving children from low-income families and under-resourced communities. Harmony Project envisions a world in which all students have equal access to opportunities to learn how to play music and the resources needed to thrive in college and beyond. Harmony Project’s holistic approach to student success has resulted in impressive outcomes with 98 percent of the graduating high school class accepted to a college or university during the 2025-2026 academic year.