Major:
Journalism with a minor in Music Industry
Year of Graduation:
2014
Hometown:
Outside of Philly
Greek Life:
Gamma Phi Beta
Favorites:
Food:
Chocolate
Color:
Red
Place to eat at Lehigh:
Johnny’s
Place to study at Lehigh:
Big room in Linderman
Place to hang out on campus:
Big comfy couches in the chapter room in the GPhi house
Thing to do in Bethlehem:
Go out to dinner with friends.
Music artist:
Tough question! I have many favorites, but nothing compares to Christina Aguilera’s voice
TV Show:
How I Met Your Mother
Movie:
I can never resist watching The Notebook
Watch out Lehigh, there is a talented singer on campus who is sure to make a name for herself. Mai Hanoon, Class of 2014, started singing when she was only in the 4th grade. Mai and some friends had what she calls a “pretend band”, and she realized that she had real singing talent in 5th grade when she got a solo in the chorus concert. Besides singing, Mai plays guitar, is in Gamma Phi Beta, and can also speak Hebrew.
Mai became really involved with singing by joining her school’s choir in 5th grade, and staying with it until her senior year of high school. High school was when singing became her passion, when she became involved in three after school groups – jazz choir, chamber choir, and women’s choir. She also participated in many of the school’s musicals, and taught herself how to play guitar. During her junior year, Mai started her own YouTube account and started posting her music there. Through this, she got the opportunity to go to a recording studio and Mai made a small EP with covers of songs which are available online.
Here at Lehigh, Mai has stayed very involved with music. She is a member of the Lehigh Melismatics acappella group, which keeps her singing all the time. Mai advises underclassmen to find something they love and “stick with it!” The Melismatics has been a great way for her to, “take a break from school twice a week and do something I love.” She has also done a few open-mic nights in the area, including the Wildflower café in downtown Bethlehem. She had a solo in her accappella group’s performance at the International Championship of Collegiate Accappella (ICCAs) last year at Rutgers, which she says is one of the coolest things she has done with her music. Last year Mai auditioned for the new singing show, The Voice, and although she didn’t make it, the experience taught her a lot and exposed her to a part of the music industry. One of Mai’s favorite parts of being a singer is, “When someone I don’t know comes up to me and tells me they love my videos or when I receive good comments from strangers.”
After graduation Mai would like to travel a lot, and then figure out her plan. She, “would love to pursue music, but it’s just not that easy. I could try it out, and if it doesn’t work I could go to the journalism and communications route. I could also go to the music industry route and work for a record label.”
Something no one knows about Mai (until now) is that when she is driving by herself she sings as loud as she possibly can. She even told us that, “If I ever have an audition or a solo or something, I usually practice in my car!”
You can check out Mai’s videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/mh21892
http://www.youtube.com/user/mh21892#p/f/2/kHsPGpVJQW0
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Lehigh chapter.